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ANTRANIG AZHDERIAN. 



THE TURK 



AND 



THE LAND OF HAIG 



OR 



TURKEY AND ARMENIA 



DESCRIPTIVE, HISTORICAL, AND 
PICTURESQUE 



BY 

ANTRANIG AZHDERIAN 



^sc- 



NEW YORK 

THE MERSHON COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 



I0,:> 9 



Copyright, i8g8, 

BY 
ANTRANIG AZHDERIAN. 



Half-tone Engravings by S. J. Kelley, Binghamton, N. Y. 



2nd CC 
1898, 







TWO COPIES RECEIVED. 



Ho tbe 

flfcemorg of nig borne across tbe sea 

Gbts first fruit of mg goutbful pen is 

GenDerls Unscribeo. 



PREFACE. 

The late Armenian tragedies have claimed a large 
share of the world's attention, and have occasioned the 
publication of a great deal of literature on the subject ; 
thanks to modern facilities of communication, which 
have brought mankind everywhere into such close re- 
lations that each now studies the other's condition and 
movements with more interest, and each has a mutual 
feeling for the other's welfare and destiny. Yet with 
all the information of the present situation of affairs in 
the Turkish Empire, there is still a manifest lack of 
knowledge of the land, its historical associations, the 
relations which its people sustain one to the other, and 
their character and home life. Travelers in foreign 
lands, no matter how keen in their observation, attain, 
as to the inner real life of the people, ideas very un- 
satisfactory, and what they say is ofttimesof little worth, 
not being the true condition of things. They have 
seen "through a glass darkly." I claim that seeing is 
not knowing. Often many things, after some time 
spent in careful observation and study, seem entirely 
different from our first impressions. To look at the 
window is a different thing from looking through the 
window. A great many travelers during their flying 
trips know things only as they appear to them, and 
often are deceived ; but a native looks not at the 
things, but through the things ; he takes them not as 



VI PREFACE. 

they appear, but as they are. The language, religious 
ceremonies, manners, and customs, the social and moral 
conditions, and the very atmosphere of the country 
itself are familiar to a native from his cradle. 

The mission of this book, therefore, is not simply to 
set forth the causes and the development of the late 
tragedies in Armenia ; but, from the standpoint of a 
native, one who is born and reared in the country, to 
portray, as accurately as possible, the varied phases of 
the social, religious, and political customs and institu- 
tions of the Armenians and the Turks ; and to give 
some account of their history, past and present, with an 
earnest desire to bring the life of the country clearly 
before the minds of the American people, in the hope 
that a better understanding of my fatherland by 
Americans may arouse intelligent and practical sym- 
pathy, and thus may reflect upon that country some of 
those blessings which have distinguished America in 
the march of modern civilization. 

The Author. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Preface 3 

Introduction, 11 

The Land of Haig — Armenia, 13 

The Children of Haig— the Armenians, .... 35 

Armenian Literature, 74 

The Armenian Church, 109 

The Evangelical Church, 129 

Social and Home Life, 156 

The Turks, 220 

The Religion of the Turks— Mohammedanism, , . .248 

The Turkish Government, 284 

The Eastern Question, 3 l8 

The Chronic Condition of Armenia, and the Causes of Her 

Tragedies, 353 

The Turkish Campaign of Butchery, ..... 370 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



PAGE 

Antranig Azhderian, the Author, . . . Frontispiece 



Mount Ararat 

Ruins of Ancient Armenian Monasteries and Palaces, 

Remains of Armenian Antiquity, 

Traditional Portrait of Haig, ...*.. 

Legendary Heroes of Armenia, ..... 

Kings of Ancient Armenia and the Conversion and Bap 

tism of King Tiridates 

Coat of Arms and Flags of Ancient Armenia, 

John Ayvazovsk, the Armenian Painter, 

H. E. Daud Pasha, Late Armenian Governor of Mount 

Lebanon 

Early Armenian Monasteries— Repositories of Learning 
The Scene of Armenian Poets' Fancy, .... 

The Little Lake 

Raphael Patkanian 

Legendary Portrait of Vartan Mamigonian, 

Monastery of Etchmiadzin, . . . . 

Rt. Rev. Migrditch Khirimian, the Armenian Catholicos 

Early Monasteries and Churches of Armenia, 

Rev. Cyrus Hamlin, D. D., LL. D., ...... 

Armenian Teachers, 

American Missionaries Translating the Bible at Constan 

tinople, 

Anatolia College, 



24 
29 

33 
37 
43 

49 
57 
67 

71 
83 
95 
100 
105 
114 
117 
121 
127 

i37 
141 

H5 

i47 



President C. C. Tracy and Students of Anatolia College, 149 



X 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



American Missionaries at Marsovan, 

An Armenian Family— Relatives of the Author, 

Armenian Children, ...... 

A Characteristic Street Scene, 
Schoolgirls in Armenia, ..... 

Teachers and Pupils of an Armenian School, 

A Turkish School, 

An Advanced Moslem Teacher and His Pupils, 

The Bazaar De Doerkler-Alti in Constantinople 

A Turkish Lady of Rank, .... 

A Moslem Slave Girl of the Harem, 

The Fair Women of the Harem, 

Sultan's Harem on the Bosphorus, .... 

A Turkish Young Lady, 

An Armenian Merchant and Family in Marsovan 

An Armenian Family, 

A Caravan, 

On the Road in Turkey, .... 
A Turkish Plow and Plowman, . 

Some of the Sultans of Turkey 

Soldiers of the Old Military System— Janizaries, 
Mohammed II. within the Walls of Constantinople, 

Sultan Abdul-Hamid II., 

Sultan Abdul-Aziz, 

Gate of Imperial Seraglio in Constantinople, 
Imperial Palace of Dolma-Baytche on the Bosphorus 
Arch in Ruins in Asia Minor, 

Theater in Ruins, 

Mosques of the Moslem Founders, Brusa, 
The Mosque of Ahmet in Constantinople, 
The Moslem at Prayer in the Desert, 

Court of a Mosque, 

The Mosque of Suleyman in Constantinople, 
A Dervish Beggar, ...... 

Dancing Dervishes, ..-„.. 



Turkey, 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



XI 



Public Reading of the Sultan's Firman Regarding the 

Appointment of a Pasha, 

A Vali and Suite, 

A Turkish Judge 

A Modern Turkish General, 

A Turkish Landlord of the Highest Type, 

Firemen and Fire Engine in Turkey, 

A Hot Bargain in the Horse Market, 

Santa Sophia in Constantinople, 

Constantinople and the Golden Horn, 

Nicholas I., Emperor of Russia, 

Lord Salisbury, Prime Minister of Great Britain 

Moslem Cutthroats in Armenia, 

The City of Marsovan, 

A Group of Armenian Huntchagians, 

Seven Towers of Constantinople, 

Moslem Robbers Dividing Spoils, 

The Ambassadors of the Great Powers at Constantinople, 

The Late Rt. Hon. W. E. Gladstone, the Great English 

Friend of the Armenians, 

An Armenian Massacre, 

The Costume of a Turkish Highwayman 

Armenian Children, 



287 
291 
295 
301 
307 
309 
313 
321 

3 2 7 
329 
349 
356 
359 
365 
367 
373 
383 

385 
389 
39i 
401 



INTRODUCTORY. 

BY 

RT. REV. F. D. HUNTINGTON, LL. D„, 

Bishop of the Diocese of Central New York. 



It is a pleasure for me to place my name among 
those of the friends of Mr. Antranig Azhderian in this 
country. With those who may have but a slight 
acquaintance with him there can be no occasion for 
any testimonial to his noble character, his accomplish- 
ments, his high aim, or his patriotic devotion to his 
native land and its institutions. 

The many tributes which Mr. Azhderian has in his 
possession are so explicit, so emphatic, so cordial, so 
laudatory in terms, and so disinterested in their motive, 
that I could, even apart from my personal acquaintance 
with him, feel no hesitation in giving him both con- 
fidence and unqualified commendation. These docu- 
ments are made weighty by the character and standing 
of men whose signatures they bear, including interna- 
tional officials, scholars, authorities in Oriental litera- 
ture, educators in this country, Christian missionaries, 
and ministers of the Gospel. They relate to different 
periods of Mr. Azhderian's life, his birth and superior 
breeding, his social position in the Orient, his habits 
and studies. They bear striking testimony to his un- 



xiv INTRODUCTORY. 

usual gifts as a public speaker, his judgment and taste, 
his command of languages, his eloquence in oratory. 

Any introduction bespeaking favorable attention in 
behalf of this work would be needless for those who 
may begin to read it. The qualities as to which the 
author has been most careful to make his treatise 
strong and secure in the face of criticism are accuracy, 
fairness, historical impartiality, and intelligent sym- 
pathy with the best institutions and movements of our 
time, in the Old World and the New. It would not be 
enough for a patriotic Armenian to revere the vener- 
able antiquities and sacred traditions of his people, or 
plead for justice and mercy toward them on the ground 
of what they have been and have done in the romantic 
past. He must, as a son of a robust and pure ances- 
try, desire to serve the highest civil and intellectual 
moral interests of his kindred and his nation, by send- 
ing back to them the fruits of his observation among 
the free, republican, progressive communities of the 
West. It was this aspiration, and not an idle curiosity, 
that brought Mr. Azhderian as an independent trav- 
eler, young but not immature, to. a close acquaintance 
with the colleges, political systems, industries, and re- 
ligion of the United States. The presentation of his 
purpose has naturally led him into wider fields than he 
at first contemplated entering. 

Such a survey, with its attendant argument and 
appeal, could not have been accomplished at any epoch 
since the Christian era so suitable as this, when the 
struggles and tragedies of suffering millions of his 
fellow-countrymen are uttering their cry to a singularly 
regardless and unhelpful Christendom. 



THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 



THE LAND OF HAIG— ARMENIA. 



"It would be difficult to point out a more delightful, soul- 
inspiring, mysteriously fascinating country on the surface of the 
globe than Armenia. . . Whithersoever we turn our steps, to 
the north, south, east, or west, the ground we tread is holy. It 
is history — stratified." — E. H. B. Lanin, London, England. 

TRADITIONS OF ANTIQUITY. 

A RMENIA, now for the most part subject to the 
* *■ Turkish Empire, is the fountain-head of antiquity. 
She is most ancient among the ancient — a land whose 
marvels excite the wonder of the beholder. Her 
shrines, rocks, rivers, valleys, and mountains — silent 
witnesses of prehistoric contentions and changing 
fortunes — are replete with memorials which date back 
to the beginning of the life and growth of infant 
humanity. The murmuring of her soft breezes wafts 
to the listening ear the sweet strains which once rose 
from the terrestial paradise to mingle with the 
melodies of the celestial — a land where man first 
communed with his God ! 

In the earliest ages of the world, long before the 
nations and peoples of recorded history existed and 
flourished, the human race had its home in Armenia. 
Here was spoken a common language, here was the 



14 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

origin of civil government and monotheistic religion, 
and from here, when the race grew and multiplied, the 
people spread over all Asia and Europe. 

The position of central Armenia, between the 
Caspian and Black seas, facilitated the immediate 
dispersion of the post-diluvian people. Some writers 
claim that the Hindu-Kush mountains were the oldest 
home and the distributing center. We contend that 
geographical position, Holy Writ, modern history, 
tradition, and scientific research unite in favoring 
Armenia as the primitive home from which the eastern 
and western Aryans originated. Mt. Ararat, where, 
according to the Scriptures, Noah's ark rested, is in the 
central province of Armenia, although there are some 
still who question whether the mountain of the flood 
is the Ararat of Armenia, and who would locate the 
resting place of the ark in various other places, some 
at Mount Meiru of India, some in the Kurdish Moun- 
tains of central Asia. 

Our traditions as to Noah are exceedingly interest- 
ing. The name of the village at the entrance to the 
glen on the northeast foot of Mount Ararat is Arghuri, 
meaning "he planted the vine," and here Noah's vine- 
yard is still pointed out. In 1840 a catastrophe buried 
the oldest village and the vineyard; but it is alleged 
that a vine stock planted by the patriarch's hand 
(Gen. iv. 2) still bears grapes. Not far from Arghuri, 
is Manard, "the mother lies here," referring to the 
burial place of Noah's wife. At a little distance is the 
city of Eravan, "visible," where the legend is that 
the saved remnant first beheld the dry land when the 
waters subsided. Nearby is the town of Nakchvan, 



THE LAND OF HAIG — ARMENIA. 1 5 

"first habitation," indicating the primeval dwelling of 
men. 

The simple and credulous Christian of Armenia 
implicitly believes that these traditional spots are 
veritable relics of the diluvian period. Mount Ararat 
is known among us as Massis, or " the mother of the 
world." It was also held by the ancient geographers 
that this was the center of the world. The Persian 
traditions in regard to this mountain are quite like 
those of the Armenian. They call it Kuhi-Nuh, 
"the mountain of Noah." Thus not only have we 
the evidence of the Bible, but our traditions and the 
testimony of the oldest geographers are in favor of 
our belief that Armenia was the center for the disper- 
sion of the human race. 

But we may even trace our country to still earlier 
biblical periods. It was a prevailing view among the 
ancient Latin and Greek interpreters of the Bible, 
that after the flood the human race, led by Noah, found 
a safe home in the very region which had been its 
cradle. Surely the Divine Wisdom had a lesson to 
teach erring man in restoring him to the same abode 
whence he was once banished. And how closely, 
again, does the topography of Eden, as given in the 
second chapter of Genesis, coincide with the natural 
characteristics of this region to-day ! Notwithstand- 
ing some obvious mixture of error in these traditions, 
they doubtless have a basis in reality, and bear the 
marks of essential truth. Streams of tradition flowing 
from a common source have been transmitted from 
generation to generation, and upon them some of the 
greatest events in the history of humanity have been 



l6 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

inscribed as upon the solid rock. One person, such as 
Lamech the son of Methuselah, who lived from the 
days of Adam to those of Noah, would have been 
sufficient to communicate the story of antediluvian 
days to Eber, Isaac, and Levi, and from these patri- 
archs the story may easily have reached Moses himself. 
May not the Armenians, then, who sprung from the 
most remote ancestry, rightfully suppose such a chain 
among their progenitors as would justify their histori- 
cal traditions, especially in view of the harmony of 
these traditions with the Bible ? 

We find various views as to the location of the 
Garden of Eden. The latest and wildest theory is of 
its location at the North Pole, upon the assumption 
that in the lapse of ages the earth has gradually 
cooled so that the first suitable place for man to live 
was in the Arctic zone. Armenia, however, has the 
earliest and most reasonable of all claims. Our land 
is a natural center. The Tigris, Euphrates, and other 
rivers of the Paradise of Eden still flow, and the 
identity of these streams alone should banish all doubt. 
The very odors of the forest are of singular fragrance. 
Here bloom indigenous plants of great variety and 
hue, which refuse to lend their beauty and fragrance to 
any foreign clime. Numerous birds, too, of peculiar 
beauty adorn and enliven the enchanting landscapes. 
Robert Curzon oives us a list of over one hundred 
and seventy kinds of birds in an Armenian city, 
enumerating them by their particular names and 
families. He says : " I have no power to do them jus- 
tice. The number of various kinds of birds which 
breed on the great plain is so prodigious as to seem 



THE LAND OF HAIG — ARMENIA. IJ 

almost incredible to those who have not seen them, as 
I often have, covering the earth for miles and miles^so 
completely that the color of the ground could not be 
seen." Do not all these natural and scenic character- 
istics, coupled with Bible documents and native tradi- 
tions, bear evidence of these primitive ages ? Surely 
the Armenians are justified in their claim that the 
beautiful landscape which was twice selected by the 
Omnipotent as the cradle of the human race was in 
Armenia; that here was embowered the original Eden, 
and here the ark rested after the Deluge. 

Armenians are thus ever proud of their land of 
fragrant memories. But what comfort can we obtain 
from a home made desolate ? Paradise has been 
transformed into a habitation of fallen humanity, and 
her most enlightened descendants have long since 
removed to the remoter parts of the world. Some 
nations glory in their many achievements and in their 
monuments of antiquity. Rome, in her universal 
dominion, in her patriotism and statescraft ; Greece, in 
her precious legacy of art and letters ; Egypt, in her 
awe-inspiring ruins of ancient grandeur; Palestine, in 
her lofty sentiments of religious truths ; and the glory 
of Armenia is her prehistoric legends and the bloom 
of her sacred memories. But of what value is all this 
past greatness in itself? The Holy Land has aban- 
doned her Christ. The dust of time and modern 
traffic has covered the exquisite monuments of Greek 
culture. They lie buried in ruins, and slumber mute 
and silent in the eternal death whence there is no 
resurrection. All roads no longer lead to Rome. 
And the past is as dead in Armenia as elsewhere. It 



l8 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

is the disposition of the nineteenth century to look for- 
ward to the glories of the future rather than backward 
to a glorious past. The soil enriched by the past 
must bear fruit in the present. And yet there must 
ever be an inspiration for the patriotic heart in looking 
back upon the glory of his fatherland ; and as I gaze 
upon the great green hills, blooming valleys, venerable 
mountains, luxuriant pastures, rippling waters, the 
banks of the Tigris and Euphrates, and the slope of 
Ararat, the scene thrills my heart with a deep pride for 
my native country. There our Armenian fathers 
bravely fought at the altar of civil and religious 
liberty ; there many noble sons, valiant soldiers of the 
Cross, stood firm for centuries against the sword and 
fire of avenging heathenism. Armenia, the mother of 
nations, the theater of human achievement and divine 
providence ! 

The genius of modern investigation has been devel- 
oped so far from Armenia that here is left to-day the 
richest and most profitable field that can reward 
scholarship in every department of human knowledge. 
The geologist has yet to trace the changes that turned 
rivers from their courses and have created lakes where 
cities once stood. The botanist can here add to the 
world's knowledge of beautiful and useful plants. 
Here philology has an ample field for the acutest intel- 
lect. The antiquarian can delve amid the ruins of 
cities that were great when Egypt was young. Ere 
Babylon was built the men whose names these cities 
bore were fireside heroes in the most civilized regions 
of the globe. 

Dr. George Smith of the British Museum, after an 



THE LAND OF HAIG— ARMENIA. IQ 

extensive exploration in the valley of the Euphrates, 
gathered tons of tablets covered with inscriptions, 
which he translated into English and published, care- 
fully arranged and classified, in a large volume. He 
places in parallel columns the Bible text and the text 
of the tablets, showing their remarkable agreement, 
and proving that modern scientific research constantly 
corroborates the assertions of the. Scriptures.. .1 am 
proud to think that my native land has been, and will 
ever be, a .growing witness to the veracity of the 
Mosaic record. Should the reader be disposed to 
doubt, let him read Smith's " Chaldean Accounts of 
Genesis " or, indeed, any of the modern works that 
treat of the recent researches about the Tigris and 
Euphrates — Layard's " Nineveh," or Bishop Newman's 
"Thrones and Palaces," or the " Records of the Past" 
published by the authorities of the British Museum. 

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS. 

Armenia is an inland region of Western Asia, lying 
directly north of the Mesopotamian plain, between the 
Black and Caspian seas. Like all lands of prehistoric 
renown, it is a small country, being a little larger than 
the State of Pennsylvania. Its geographical bound- 
aries, though changed at different periods, became 
most extensive under the administration of our kings 
Aram and Tigranes II., when they reached to the 
Caucasus on the north, to Asia Minor on the west, to 
Mesopotamia on the south, and to the Caspian Sea 
and Media on the east. In the earliest periods our 
country was divided into Armenia Major and Armenia 



20 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

Minor. The former, known as Armenia Proper, was 
divided into fifteen provinces, the central being the 
district of Ararat. 

The Armenian highlands are the most elevated 
region of western Asia, consisting of a succession of 
rolling plateaus. The mean altitude is from 5000 to 
7000 feet above the sea level, culminating in Mount 
Ararat, the loftiest peak in western Asia, which forms 
the center of the system, with an elevation of 17,210 
feet above the level of the sea, or 10,210 feet above the 
Plain of Araxes. The surface of the country is broken 
by upheavals, and consists of a series of terraces, deep 
valleys, mountain masses, and bleak plateaus ; while 
here and there the dislocation of rocks and the irregu- 
larity of the strata afford convincing evidences of vol- 
canic eruption. 

From the Armenian plateau at the foot of Mount 
Ararat arise the sources of the rivers of western Asia — 
the Tigris, the Euphrates, the Aras or Araxes, the 
Cyrus (Kur), the Acampis, and the Halys. The first 
two, with deep and rapid waters, flow r southeast into the 
Persian Gulf. The Acampis, supposed by some to be 
the Pison of the Bible, rising from the southwest of 
Erzrum and fed by various streamlets, sweeps with a 
strong and smooth current toward the Black Sea. 
The Araxes (perhaps the Gihon of the Bible) takes 
its rise about thirty miles south of Erzrum from the 
side of Bingo], or the " mountain of one thousand 
lakes," winds through fertile regions, and mingles with 
the Cyrus ; and then both, sweeping northward and 
again southward through the plain of Moghan, dis- 
charge eastward into the Caspian Sea by three mouths, 



THE LAND OF HAIG — ARMENIA. 21 

being navigable up to the point of junction. The 
name of the river is supposed to commemorate Araxes, 
whose son was drowned in the rapid waters. Xeno- 
phon, however, traces its derivation to Ar-Ax, or " holy 
water," its water being sacred to the sun. This stream 
possessed different names at different periods, com- 
memorative of various events. The Halys, or the 
modern Kizil-Irmak, is the most westerly of the rivers. 
It springs from a verdant region at no great distance 
from the Euphrates, and flows with rapid volume into 
the Black Sea. 

The volcanic soil of the country is of surpassing 
fertility, and yields abundant crops of wheat, barley, 
apricots, maize, tobacco, rice, and other minor products. 
Here are raised also the mulberry, cotton, grapes, and a 
dye called yellow-berry. Beautiful vmeyards, smiling 
gardens, orchards, and groves abound in many parts of 
the country, especially in the valleys, where luxuriant 
vegetation gladdens the heart of the lover of nature. 
Melons, figs, granates, and trees of oak, pine, ash, 
walnut, apple, peach, and chestnut abound. Its natural 
wealth and resources are greater than those of any 
other province of Asia Minor. There are gold mines 
on the line of communication between Erzrum and 
Trebizond. The river Acampis, which " compasseth 
the whole land of Havilah where there is gold," runs 
through that section of the country now. The moun- 
tains abound in silver, copper, iron, lead, antimony, sul- 
phur, and sulphates, especially in the west and among 
the hills of the Euphrates. The export minerals com- 
prise salt from Lake Van, sulphur, iron, and alum. 
There are stones of syenite, jasper, marble, granite, and 



22 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

porphyry. Sandstone and limestone are the prevailing 
geological formations of the country, and out of these 
have been quarried the materials for our royal palaces 
and ecclesiastical edifices. 

The climate is healthful, and varies according to alti- 
tude. The lono- winter, extending from October to 
May, is severe, while the summers are short and 
pleasant. The air is pure and delicious and the sky 
clear and bright. 

Like all mountain regions, Armenia abounds in 
lakes. Among them Van, Sevan, and Ormi, or 
Ormuiah, are the most noteworthy. All these are 
saline but Sevan, which is called the " sweet lake," and 
reposes near the city of Erevan. Ormi lies in the 
southern part of the country, within the territory of the 
Shah. Lake Van, on the east of the city bearing its 
name, is by far the largest and most beautiful in all 
western Asia. Its triangular surface of 14,000 square 
miles, 5000 feet above the sea level, is in the very 
center of ancient Armenia in a rich and verdant valley 
surrounded by forest-clad mountains. Its romantic 
beauty, the sluggish surge of its deep blue waters, its 
associations so famed in. history and fiction, have been 
the inspiration of many a poet. The petrified lakes of 
Armenia are particularly interesting, being the result 
of evaporation. During the warmest season of the year 
the water becomes crystallized like ice with deposits of 
salt about an inch thick, which the neighboring people 
gather in boats and carry away. Strangely enough, the 
crust does not appear in cold summers. 

Mineral springs, both cold and hot, abound. In my 
travels through the country I have seen many of them 



THE LAND OF HAIG — ARMENIA. 23 

gushing from the ground with great force from between 
the strata of limestone. These hot springs are another 
evidence of the subterranean activity of the region. 
From all over the country people who suffer from any 
ailment repair to these waters, whose medicinal proper- 
ties are of great reputation. Sometimes the waters are 
conducted to city bathing houses or basins by means of 
pipes. 

ARARAT. 

As has been mentioned, Mount Ararat is the nucleus 
of the river and mountain systems, standing high and 
hoar midway between the Black and the Caspian seas. 
It is the center of the world. It is a mountain 
rich with events of undying significance to mankind. 
Around its base legends and traditions, true and fabu- 
lous, hold perpetual sway. To-day it is a mighty 
boundary stone of three great empires — the Turkish, 
Russian, and Persian. It has two summits, seven miles 
apart, the greater at the northwest extremity and the 
lesser toward the southeast. The snow-clad summit of 
the greater Ararat is wrapped in clouds during most of 
the day. These float away at nightfall and leave the 
snowy crown clear and distinct against the starry sky. 
A more rugged and awe-inspiring view is obtained from 
the northeast than from any other point. 

No one can do Ararat justice ; every turn gives 
a new picture. It beauty is unrivaled by any other 
mountain on earth. It is truly " the sublimest object 
in nature." Its snow-crowned peak, rising from the 
plain of Araxes, rears itself in solemn majesty above 
the sea of vapor into the regions of eternal winter, 



24 



THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 



perpetually covered with ice and snow, and ruling over 
the clouds and the storms. It is a picture of mingled 
sublimity and beauty, calm, cold, majestic. 

One is filled with awe as he watches the mellow 
radiance of the moon, the changing hues and shadows 




#• ! * S 



■Hip' f . -"'. ; ." 




MOUNT ARARAT. 



of the venerable mountain, or hears the thundering 
sound of falling ice and rocks from its stupendous 
heights. The mass of snow on its summit, 14,000 feet 
above the sea, never dissolves, and is one of the phe- 
nomenal features of this mountain, exceeding- in 
quantity that of either the Alps or the Caucasus, as 
the former average 9000 feet, and the latter from 



THE LAND OF HATG — ARMENIA. 25 

10,000 to 12,000 feet, in height. The people consider 
the ascent of Ararat a miracle. They regard the 
mountain with superstitious awe, and believe that it 
still contains the relics of the ark, unchanged by time 
or decay, and that in order to insure their preservation 
a divine decree has made it inaccessible to mortal 
approach. The Tartars and the Turks of the neigh- 
borhood imagine its summit to be the abode of the 
" devil " and of wild ghosts, and they fear to approach 
too near its top. Morier himself declares, " No one 
appears to have reached the summit of Ararat since the 
Flood." However, Dr. Friedrich Parrot of the Uni- 
versity of Dorpat, after several unsuccessful attempts, 
finally gained the summit in September, 1829. He is 
considered the first mortal since the Deluge who has 
ever ventured amid the ice and snow of the isolated 
peak. 

The name " Ararat" is of the remotest antiquity. It 
has been known for 3000 years. We find in the most 
ancient annals of the Mosaic record of creation the 
expression, " Upon the mountains of Ararat." Moses 
of Clorene, the father of our history, traces the origin 
of the word Ararat or Arardhi to our Armenian 
patriarch, Ara or Arai, the beautiful, who lived eight- 
een centuries before Christ. At his fall, in a bloody 
conflict, the Armenian plain was called after him Arai- 
Arat, " the fall of Arai." Some others advance the 
theory that the word is composed of Ar and Arah 
— Ar (Sanskrit), the root of Aryan or "nobles," and 
Arah (classical Armenian), " plains" or " fields," hence 
meaning "the plains of the Aryans" or " nobles." 

The antiquity of the name Ararat antedates by a 



26 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

few centuries even the time of Moses. " An ancient 
bilingual tablet makes Urdhu the equivalent of Tilla, 
of which the Accadian pronunciation is given as Tilla, 
the latter, as Sir H. Rawlinson long ago pointed out, 
being probably a Semitic loan word, and meaning the 
' highlands.' Tilla, the equivalent of Urdhu, usually 
signifies the land of Accad or northwestern Babylonia, 
but since it is not glossed in this passage and stands, 
moreover, between Akharrue, or Palestine, and Kutu 
Kurdistan, it would seem that it is employed to mean 
Armenia. Urardhu, therefore, contracted into Urdhu, 
would have been the designation of the highlands of 
Armenia among the Babylonians as early as the six- 
teenth and seventeenth centuries b. c."* 

The term Ararat is used in ancient annals of sacred 
and secular history for the entire country of Armenia, 
and not for the mountain itself. Anciently even the 
inhabitants were known as the people of Ararat. It 
was not till late years that the name came to be limited 
to the mountain itself. This misunderstanding has 
led some to erroneous conclusions and superstitions. 
Nothing could be more absurd to a native of Armenia 
than the idea that the ark rested on the very top of 
Mount Ararat. A well-known American traveler, for 
instance, after describing the first impression of the 
mountain, goes on to say : " I could not help thinking 
what a hard time the mighty line of living things had 
when marching by twos, male and female, from those 
cold, bleak heights down into the plains below, after 
the great flood had subsided, and what a time good 
old Noah must have had to keep some of his warm- 

*" Cuneiform Inscriptions of Van," in "Journal R. A. S.," vol. xiv. p. 392. 



THE LAND OF HAIG — ARMENIA. 27 

blooded pets from freezing on that lofty, sixteen-thou- 
sand-feet-high pinnacle." Many similar criticisms have 
been made concerning the ark on Mount Ararat, as 
though that historic craft had actually rested on its 
very peak. Such absurd ideas indicate a lack not only 
of knowledge, but of a proper and common-sense 
understanding of a simple biblical narrative. The 
geographical unit is the mountain range, and with 
the mountain ranges the study of geography should 
begin. From them a scientific nomenclature can 
most easily be constructed. How precise and clear is 
the statement of the Book of Genesis ! " The ark rested 
upon the mountains of Ararat." — not upon Mount 
Ararat. There are scriptural references in 2 Kings 
xix. $7 I Isaiah xxxvii. 38. In these parallel passages 
allusion is made to Adrammelech and Sharezer, who, 
having assassinated their father Sennacherib, "escaped 
into the land of Ararat." The prophet Jeremiah (in 
Jeremiah ii. 27), summoning the nations for the over- 
throw of Babylon, calls " together against her the king- 
doms of Ararat, Minni, and Ashchenaz." Thus sacred 
and secular writers concur in speaking of not only a 
mountain, but of a range, a land, a kingdom, an army, 
and a people of " Ararat." Does the critic suppose 
that the horses and mules of Ararat were reared 
on the icebergs of an isolated peak ? They were 
seen in the markets of Syria. Had they wings, that 
they could fly where a donkey could not climb ? 
An army of Araratians helped Cyrus in the over- 
throw of Babylon. Did they come on a toboggan slide 
from the regions of everlasting snow ? 

Moses of Chorene's appellation, " Arred " or 



28 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

"Ayrarad," coincides with the Armaniyn or Armenia of 
the Persian text, which is frequently employed in 
ancient historical documents, denoting that the name 
Ararat was identical with the whole country of Armenia. 
St. Jerome himself always identified Ararat with the 
plain of Araxes, where the mountain reposes. 

Again, the window of the ark is described in Genesis 
as being above ; so that when " on the first day of the 
tenth month the top of the mountains came forth," 
Noah would most naturally have been looking upward 
to see what was above the ark. Therefore, the extreme 
cone, the highest pinnacle of Ararat, was not the rest- 
ing place of the diluvian ark, but in all probability a 
much lower part of the Ararat range. 

ANCIENT CITIES. 

In Armenia are many once famous cities, unknown 
to Americans because the hand of time has shorn them 
of their former splendor and many of them are buried 
beneath the accumulations of centuries. The largest 
of these were situated on the fair banks of the Tigris, 
comparatively few on the Euphrates. Some cities 
had their streets paved with fragments of sculpture 
when Moses was with Pharaoh on the throne of Egypt. 
Some of the walls, thirty or forty feet high, still remain, 
with solid foundations and towers rising at regular 
intervals with large arched gateways. 

Ani, the glittering city of gold and silver, was the 
imperial pride of Armenian sovereigns, whose pearly 
palaces shone with beauty in the dazzling glare of the 
sunlight. Its streets were clean and richly adorned 





RUINS OF ANCIENT ARMENIAN MONASTERIES AND PALACES. 



30 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

with decorations of nature and art. This ideal city is 
to-day a heap of colossal ruins. 

The venerable city of Van, anciently the city of 
Semiramis, embowered on the eastern bank of the 
lake of that name, commanded a view of the wondrous 
citadel towering on a rugged rock with a natural 
amphitheater surrounding it and buried amid the 
loveliest vegetation and vineyards. Its cuneiform 
inscriptions are famous in history, as they have revealed 
the secrets of the centuries to modern research. 
Professor A. H. Sayce of Oxford, England, in his 
Journal gives the translations of these venerable inscrip- 
tions along with other Armenian antiquities. 

Artaxata was once the capital of Armenia, where 
King- Tiridates received his crown from Rome. After 
seeking for years to stifle the incipient Church, he too 
bowed before the cross of Christ and, like Saul of 
Tarsus, became the ardent advocate of what he had 
once endeavored to overthrow. 

The holy city of Vagharshabad was built by King 
Erovant, but all its pomp and glory have faded away 
except the monastery of Etchmiadzin. This most 
ancient Episcopal seat of the Armenians still remains 
as a mighty bulwark, against which the heathen can- 
non of all aees have thundered in vain. This mother 
church of Ararat contains a number of holy relics, 
among them the head of the spear by which the side of 
the Saviour was wounded, and the hand of St. Gregory, 
the founder of the monastery, who laid the first stone in 
the year 302 — the hand that baptized King Tiridates, 
from whom he suffered unimaginable persecutions. 
The traditions in this Episcopal seat are also rich in 



THE LAND OF HAIG — ARMENIA. 3 1 

apostolic legends. Of these none is more singular 
that the reputed correspondence of Christ with our 
King Abgar of Edessa. The story is that the mes- 
sengers of this sovereign, having some business transac- 
tion with the Roman nobility in Palestine, heard of the 
miracles of Jesus of Nazareth and on their return 
related ■ them to their sovereign, who was convinced 
that either Jesus was "that Christ" or else that God 
had come to dwell on earth. As the king was suffer- 
ing from a serious disease, he sent a letter to Christ 
with a company of messengers imploring Him to 
repair to his court and graciously cure him. An artist 
was also sent, so that if the Lord should fail to come, 
he might at least have His portrait. The painter, 
being at work one day endeavoring to fulfill the royal 
commission, was observed by the Saviour, who passed 
a handkerchief over His countenance and handed it to 
the artist with a perfect likeness of Himself upon it. 
A reply to the King's letter was written by St. 
Thomas, commending his faith in an unseen Christ, 
and informing him that the Divine Master's mission 
was more urgent elsewhere than in Armenia, but that 
after His ascension disciples would be sent to enlighten 
the king's people and relieve him of his sufferings. It 
has been stated that a papyrus has been discovered in 
an Egyptian tomb containing the reputed letter of our 
king. 

Erzrum, on the main line of communication 
between Persia and the Euxine, still survives as a 
populous military post and commercial entrepot. It 
reposes in a lovely district about one hundred miles 
southeast of Trebizond. The extent of its fortifications 



32 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

was so great in Erzrum that twenty-two thousand 
men were required to defend it. In 415 a. d. the city 
was fortified by Antolius and became a stronghold of 
the Roman Empire, its ancient name, Karin, being 
changed to Theodosiopolis, in honor of the emperor. 
During the Middle Ages, the city was an object of 
jealousy and contentions between the Moslems and 
the Greeks. By those who dwell in the vicinity the 
city is thought to be the very spot where the garden of 
Eden was located. They claim that for many a 
century the flowers of Paradise bloomed around the 
source of the Euphrates. Tradition says that Nature 
herself was so horrified at the sacrilegious conduct of a 
Persian king that she refused to produce those rare 
beauties any longer, and even changed the source of 
the river itself. Local accounts of Adam's fall show 
how a frail, sympathetic man will follow a woman into 
any kind of a trap. He did not eat of the fruit, they 
say, until he saw the fatal effect on lovely Eve. Then, 
concluding that the Creator would have compassion if 
He saw them both in the same sad plight and restore 
them to their former estate, he decided to follow her 
example; reasoning thus, he indulged. We know the 
result ! Restoration did not occur in accordance with 
his logical reasoning. There was something wrong 
with the premises. Logic was not taught, except 
objectively, in his day. Who can blame Adam ? 
" The Lord cursed the serpent, and Eve and I 
were doomed between the two " was the sad re- 
frain. 

There are also Armavir, Ardashed, Kemak, and 
other cities, whose past associations are inspiring to an 






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r*.»;*.rr w>* -Ko^nvflor. 




REMAINS OF ARMENIAN ANTIQUITY. 



34 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

Armenian, although their present state is little more 
than the shadow of their former grandeur. 

The Babylonians and Assyrians have become, like 
their cities, only a name ; but though conquered and 
dispersed, with their once proud cities destroyed, the 
Armenians still remain, and we shall speak of their 
past and present in succeeding pages. 



THE CHILDREN OF HAIG— THE 
ARMENIANS. 

"The Armenians are the representatives of one of the oldest 
civilized Christian-races, and, beyond all doubt, one of the most 
pacific, one of the most industrious, and one of the most intel- 
ligent races in the world." — Gladstone. 

" Their national character is a powerful one, and will exercise 
a marked influence in determining the future of the East." — 
Professor Henry F. Tozer, Exeter College, Oxford, England. 

"^HE beginning of our national history, like that of 
* all races of antiquity, is mingled with much of myth 
and legend. Our father, according to tradition, is To- 
garmah, the son of Gomer, who was the son of Japheth 
of the Scriptures (Genesis x. 3). Some of our his- 
torians allude to our country as Askhanzian, certainly 
derived from Askenaz, the brother of Togarmah and 
the son of Gomer. 

Our traditional history, according to the accounts of 
Chorene, our national historian, dates back twenty- 
three centuries before Christ, when Haig, the son of 
Togarmah, began his political career as our first ruler, 
from whom the appellations Haigian, our national 
name, and Hayasdan, our country's name, are derived. 
He was one of the many who were busily engaged on 
the Plains of Shinar in the construction of the Tower 
of Babel ; but the insatiable ambition of Belus, who 
sought supremacy, constrained Haig to flee from 
Babylon to the land of Ararat, where he proposed to 

35 • 



$6 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF IIAIG. 

plant his own dominion in the vicinity of Lake Van, 
an enchanting land of glen and valley, rivers and lakes. 
Belns, the sovereign of Assyria, sending messengers to 
Haig, commanded him to surrender his power and re- 
turn to his former subjection. This haughty demand, 
however, was promptly refused, and war was the con- 
sequence. 

Belus, at the head of a mighty army, marched to the 
land of Ararat, and Haig met him with his patriarchal 
force of numerous sons, grandsons, and servants. It 
was a crisis which decided the future of his posterity. 
There the first Armenian hero displayed his valor, and 
our legendary songs still sing his triumphant praise. 
He slew the Hamitic giant with his dart, and buried 
him on the spot where he fell, scattering his army in 
ofreat confusion. Haio- lived the long- life of four hun- 
dred years with a flourishing dominion, and established 
a pure monotheistic worship and a patriarchal govern- 
ment. The first dynasty bearing his name had a long 
genealogy of fifty-nine kings, with the capital at 
Armavir, to the north of Araxes. Here grew sacred 
forests, the rustle of whose leaves was held to be the 
voice of God whispering to men of welfare and peace. 
It must be remembered that these so-called " kings " 
were nothing but hereditary rulers who occupied the 
position of patriarchs. 

Haig's son Armenag was the next sovereign. Some 
suppose that Armenia derived her name from him. 
His reign is followed by a dim period in the annals of 
our country, which mention a succession of Armenian 
princes until Aram, the seventh in the dynasty of 
Haig, who came to his father's throne about two thou- 




TRADITIONAL rOTCTRATT OF HAIG. 



38 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

sand years before Christ. Aram was a king of un- 
usual military and executive attainments. Contem- 
porary with the biblical patriarchs, he so diffused his 
reputation in the neighboring provinces and countries, 
through his conquests and magnetic power, that foreign 
nations from his day to this have associated his name 
with our country and people in the appellation of 
Armenia and Armenian. 

In ancient accounts Tiglath-Pileser speaks of "the 
mountains of Aruma," while the inscriptions of Shal- 
maneser mention " The royal city of Arrame of the 
land of Unardhians." 

This " Aruma" of Tiglath-Pileser and "Arrame" of 
Shalmaneser coincide with the name "Aram" of the 
Armenian historians. Different spellings of the same 
name account for its varied transformations into 
foreign languages, while they both refer to the " Ar- 
ram " of the natives, the first referring to the country 
and the latter to the sovereign. The derivation Togar- 
mah is believed by some scholars to be from Toka, 
the Sanskrit for "race," and Armah of the classical 
Armenian. Thus Aram, Arama, Arrama, and Armah, 
though differently spelled by different people, are all 
derived from Aram, the name of the ruler and his prov- 
ince. Anciently the country was known as Aramenia, 
but it has been contracted into Armenia. 

Aram greatly extended the boundaries of his kingdom 
by conquering large portions of Media, Assyria, and the 
eastern part of Asia Minor. Nor did he neglect the 
internal improvements of his growing realm. Among 
the cities he built Mazaca, or the modern Caesarea in 
Cappadocia, is a living monument to his active energy. 



THE CHILDREN OF HAIG— THE ARMENIANS. 39 

Ara, " the Beautiful," who sat upon his father's 
throne, embellishes the pages of Armenian history with 
romance not unlike that of Cleopatra. He must have 
possessed excellence of character along with his great 
physical beauty, for the blending of these two alone 
forms the requisite of true beauty. And the embodi- 
ment of these two qualities seems to have been the 
ideal of the fair Assyrian queen Semiramis, who in her 
infatuated frenzy saw in Ara the fairest of mortals. 
However, Ara refused to be bound in marriagfe with an 
idolatrous ruler, who worshiped not the true God of 
his fathers. She resolved to win him, if not by will, at 
least by force of arms. She advanced upon the forces 
of the youthful Armenian patriarch, but the clash of 
her conquering arms sounded his death knell, for her 
long coveted prize was first among the slain. As the 
stricken king was laid low at the queen's feet, she burst 
into a frenzy of grief. In vain were all endeavors of 
magic art to bring him back to life. The spot where 
he was buried in a coffin of gold is still pointed out as 
Ara Sent, i. e., " Ara is sacrificed." 

After her disappointing adventure in the land of 
Ara, the semi-mythical queen chose the vernal banks of 
Lake Van for her summer residence. On such an im- 
mense scale were the proportions of the building that 
its construction required six hundred architects and one 
thousand two hundred workmen. She named the city 
after herself " Shamiramaguerd." In later years, 
however, King Van of the Haigazian dynasty, having 
rebuilt the city, called it Van, which name it bears to 
the present day. 

With the death of Ara, our land was unable to op- 



40 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

pose an effectual barrier to Assyrian progress and 
sadly dwindled into oblivion for a period of nearly 
three centuries, as a tributary province to this alien 
power. The rule of the Haigazian dynasty, though 
not altogether destroyed, was reduced to utter insig- 
nificance beneath the mighty hand of Assyria. The 
long sway of Semitic rule was not without its detri- 
mental results to our national character. It supplanted 
the pure monotheism of our fathers, and substituted in 
its stead the worship of Bel. With this religious 
change, the social aspects, race, and language, as a 
natural result, bore the indelible impress of As- 
syrianism. 

Our meager history of this period is engraved in 
cuneiform characters on monuments distributed 
throughout the region. The inscriptions of both 
Armenian and Assyrian kings are vainglorious and 
self-praising, a characteristic of the ancients. Neither 
were the deities forgotten in these inscriptions. 
Curses of the air- and sun-gods are commonly called 
down on him who should dare to mar these monu- 
mental records. However, some of the stones thus 
inscribed are now found in the walls of Christian 
churches with the continuity of their records broken. 
In some other cases they are still legible. Though 
religion, manners, and customs in the region of 
Ararat during this era were Assyrian, and though 
their inscriptions were cuneiform, still the Armenians 
had a language of their own in which they preserved 
their identity. 

After three hundred years of servitude Armenia 
once again rose Phcenix-like from its ashes, under 



THE CHILDREN OF HAIG — THE ARMENIANS. 41 

Barvir, who successfully raised the standard of rebellion 
against Sardanapalus. From this period our people 
enjoyed a line of independent rulers. 

Dikran the Mighty, or Tigranes I., was one of the 
most notable sovereigns of this dynasty. He was 
a man of great administrative capacity. He united 
firmness and courage with sound judment in all his 
deliberations and activities. His magnetic influence 
was not confined to his own country, but was felt far 
and wide throughout the East. As a friend and 
colleague of Cyrus, he aided him in the overthrow 
of Babylon (528 b. c), in fulfillment of prophecy 
(Jeremiah ii. 27). He instituted mighty reforms in 
public improvements, education, and morals. His 
country, whose boundaries were greatly extended 
under his military power and statecraft, enjoyed 
unparalleled prosperity in commerce. An extension 
of trade navigation on lakes and rivers was also intro- 
duced. His deeds of prowess and his vigor truly made 
his land a star among nations. Vahakn, who suc- 
ceeded his father Dikran, was so renowned for his 
physical strength and matchless daring that, after his 
death, his people, who were fast lapsing into the 
heathenism of contemporary nations, worshiped his 
monument. Vahe, the last king of the Haigazian 
dynasty, in his efforts to aid Darius against the 
invasions of Alexander the Great, fell with the Persian 
king before the long spears, splendid discipline, and 
unquestioned bravery of the Macedonian phalanxes 
in 328 b. c. Having existed 1922 years, thus ended 
the first and the longest of the Armenian dynasties. 



42 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

ARSACID DYNASTY. 1 49 B. C.-428 A. D. 

This dynasty, beginning about a century and a half 
before Christ, fills by far the most eventful and 
brilliant centuries in the annals of Armenian history. 
Having emerged from the hovering mists and clouds 
of the Haigazian legends, here we are brought into 
closer proximity to the star of authentic history. 
Classical names of deathless renown shine out with 
brilliant radiance. It is during this dynasty that we 
look upon the Son of Man, the Saviour of the race, to 
whom our country and nation open their hearts and 
homes. It is a fact worthy of note that through a 
multitude of fortunes of war, conflicting armies, incur- 
sions, and national calamities far beyond those of 
former years, our fathers through faith in Christ have 
remained a national unit. It should not be supposed 
that during the interval between the Haigazian and 
Arsacid dynasties our people were in utter servitude, 
as they are to-day under Turkish despotism. Our 
country was simply in a state of ignominious vassalage 
under governors of the Macedonian Empire ; for we 
find in 317 b. c, after the death of Alexander, Armenia, 
under the leadership of Ardvates, struck a blow for 
freedom, and thus regained her independence. 

Upon his death, after thirty-three years of great 
prosperity, Ardvates left no competent successor to 
resist foreign aggressions. Thus Armenia submitted 
to the Seleucus of Syria, who reduced the country to 
a tributary state. For a hundred years in vain the 
Armenians revolted and struggled under the firm grasp 
of Syrian satraps. About 210 b. c. Antiochus the 




LEGENDARY HEROES OF ARMENIA. 



44 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

Great divided the country into Eastern and Western 
Armenia, or Armenia Major and Lesser Armenia — 
the former east of the river Euphrates and the latter 
west of it. Having thus divided the country he 
appointed a separate governor over each. But no 
sooner had Antiochus sustained a crushing defeat by 
the Romans than Artaxias proclaimed Armenia Major 
independent, and offered it as an asylum to Hannibal, 
the greatest strategist of all times, who had sworn to 
his father, when a boy of twelve years, "eternal enmity 
to Rome," and for forty years had kept the field against 
the imperial eagles. It must have required courage 
of the highest order in Artaxias to harbor the greatest 
enemy of Rome at his court. Lesser Armenia soon 
followed the example of the Greater and successfully, 
revolted under Zadriades, whose descendants kept the 
throne for nearly a hundred years, until the time of 
Tigranes II., when it became a part of Armenia Major. 
Scarcely had Armenia Major been free half a cen- 
tury when the Parthian king, Mithridates I., having 
vanquished Syria, extended his mighty hand upon the 
Armenian affairs, and placed his brother, Valarsaces, 
on the throne. Under his rule the country flourished, 
laws were established, personal merit among his sub- 
jects was rewarded, and great cities were founded. 
His wise policy laid a good foundation for the great 
Arsacid family. In 94 b. c. Tigranes II. took the 
reins of the government with such firmness and ability 
that his eminence caused wonder and dread to all 
neighboring nations. Possessed with martial courage, 
he entered upon a career of mighty conquest. After 
uniting Lesser Armenia with Armenia Major, he made 



THE CHILDREN OF HAIG — THE ARMENIANS. 45 

himself master of Syria ; he brought to his subjec- 
tion many provinces of the Parthian Empire; he 
conquered Media and annexed Mesopotamia. It was 
during his early sway that our country reached its 
meridian of power and popularity. It would, no doubt, 
have been destined to still brighter prospects had it not 
been for the unwise promptings of his father-in-law, 
Mithridates of Pontus, who led him into a disastrous 
conflict with the conquering legions of Pompey. 
Great Tigranes, under whose victorious tramp Eastern 
thrones had once shaken to their foundations, had to 
bow in humble submission and surrender to Rome, 
with pledges of allegiance and tribute-paying. In 
turn, a compromise was effected by the terms of which 
the provinces of Sophene and Gordyene were made 
into a separate kingdom for his son, while he himself 
was permitted to retain the remainder of his lost king- 
dom as a loyal Roman governor, in which capacity, 
with his martial ardor tamed by misery, he acted until 
the time of his death, 55 b. c, when another son, 
Artavasdes, taking the lead of the government, 
resolved to bring back to Armenia the brighter days 
of his father's early career. In his idea to successfully 
accomplish the cherished end, he denied obligation 
and governmental allegiance to Rome. Meanwhile, 
Rome and Parthia, in their contentions for Oriental 
empire, were alternately irresistible in the East. For 
Artavasdes neutrality with these powers was impos- 
sible; hence his perfidy and independent policy of 
single-handed government was both imprudent and 
detrimental. The Armenians looked to Parthia as 
their ally, while the events of history prove that it 



46 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

would have been wiser to follow the policy of Great 
Tigranes II. and remain loyal to Rome. In the 
subsequent conquest, Mark Antony, having seized 
Artavasdes, occupied the country, while the unfortu- 
nate Armenian prince was carried to Alexandria and 
there beheaded by. Cleopatra in the year 30 b. c. 

In the same year of this event Artaxes II., the son of 
Mark Antony's victim, aided by Parthians, in a suc- 
cessful rebellion massacred all the Romans found in 
Armenia. This event was followed by a long period of 
anarchy, which is one of the darkest pages in our his- 
tory. Poor Armenia was between two millstones, 
Rome on the west and Parthia on the east. The latter 
was desperate in the throes of declining power, with 
Persia crowding hard for supremacy in the region of 
Ararat. These rival powers, in their bloody duel 
for the mastery of our country, wrought their worst 
upon our people. Both set their own rulers in our 
land, separately and alternately as the wave of their 
strength permitted them. Nor was our land free from 
broils within its own borders. Over one hundred and 
seventy of our nobles broke through the restraints of 
monarchy, set up claims to principalities, and many of 
them erected independent governments, each reigning 
supreme in his own district as a petty king. While 
liberty thus grappled with tyranny for existence, in their 
helplessness our people did not know where to turn. 
They had no friendly harbor in which to refit ; they rode 
out of one storm only to enter another more violent. 
In the midst of such foreign contentions and feudal 
anarchy, a strong and daring usurper, Erovant by name, 
with legal claims to the throne on the female line of sue- 



THE CHILDREN OF HAIG — THE ARMENIANS. 47 

cession, became a sort of king, 58 a. d., and kept in power 
until his overthrow by Ardashes, closer to the direct 
Arsacid line. In spite of Roman and Parthian inter- 
ference with his right to the throne, he earnestly en- 
deavored to better the condition of his people. 

About two centuries of comparative peace gleamed 
over our unhappy land. Before the next tragic adver- 
sities had clouded Armenia's ever-changing skies, the 
great and serene Prophet of Nazareth had been born, to 
build upon earth the eternal foundations of a new king- 
dom that was destined to tower above the ages, the 
only example in human history which has given itself 
all-conqueringly to the principle of divine love, teach- 
ing men universal fraternity under a spiritual kingdom 
of a common Father. What a sense of mingled pride 
and thankfulness fills the heart of an Armenian at the 
happy thought that his fathers were the first among all 
nations to welcome Christ's kingdom, and that their 
posterity would be the last to furnish martyrs for her 
sake ! 

As to the authority of our king Abgar's reputed cor- 
respondence with Christ, and his subsequent conversion 
to Christ's religion, we may not wholly subscribe ; for 
at this point history and fable, poetry and legend, hold 
eternal and indisputable carnival. Yet, as we advance 
from the possible twilight of tradition and fable to the 
broad daylight of history, we find our king Tiridates 
and his people receiving Christian baptism in" 276 a. d., 
thirty-seven years before Constantine ventured to issue 
even the Edict of Toleration. 

Ever since that time our relioious life has been linked 
with the Church of the Crucified, and our martyr-roll 



48 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

has grown with every century ; for with the introduc- 
tion of Christianity among our people, there was added 
to political ambition of contending pagan powers a 
fierce religious hatred, whose flames of persecution have 
not yet been extinguished. 

Let us return to our chronicle. Early in the second 
century a. d. under Trajan, and later under his suc- 
cessor Hadrian, our land was in a state of relative 
tranquillity, yet in the course of another century 
Armenia became once more the theater of almost unin- 
terrupted combat between Persia and Rome. The 
origin of the struggle was Arsacid's deposition from 
the Persian throne by the Sassanid Artaxerxes (Arde- 
shir). Our king Chosroes the Great, in due sense of 
justice took up arms in defense of Persia's cause, in 
retaining the Arsacids in power. In the subsequent 
struggle he maintained the contest with such an 
indomitable courage and success that the Sassanid 
usurper, utterly incapable of exertion in open battle, 
resorted to treacherous methods in inducing Anag, one 
of his emissaries, to secretly assassinate his valiant 
adversary. Anag, in the guise of a fugitive from the 
neighboring court, entered Armenia, was welcomed by 
our king to the royal city of Vagharshabad, where he 
stabbed Chosroes to the heart. His crime was punished 
by Heaven, for while on his flight from threatened ven- 
geance, he was drowned in the river Aras, and his entire 
family was at once butchered by the soldiery. Immedi- 
ately upon this event Artaxerxes entered Armenia and 
massacred all the members of Chosroes' family save an 
infant, Tiridates, who was secretly conveyed to the 
Roman court, where the child-prince was educated under 




KINGS OF ANCIENT ARMENIA AND THE CONVERSION AND BAPTISM OF KING TIRIDATES. 



50 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

the faithful guardianship of the emperors. He cer- 
tainly derived from supposed misfortunes, as Gibbon 
has said, "such advantages as he could never have 
obtained on the throne of Armenia — the early knowl- 
edge of adversity, of mankind, and of the Roman 
discipline." 

Valerian, in his struggle against Sapor, championing 
the cause of Armenia, sustained much loss to himself 
and accomplished nothing for his ally. 

Finally the emperor Diocletian, with better success, 
restored the throne to Tiridates, who was at full man- 
hood of nearly fifty years of age. In due recognition 
the new king made an alliance of loyalty to Rome, 
taking upon himself the obligation of Tigranes the 
Great, which was broken by Tigranes' son to the sad un- 
doing of Armenia for three hundred years. Upon his 
accession, he enjoyed the good will and the inestimable 
support of both nobles and populace. Surrounded 
with such favorable auspices, his military genius had 
full scope for action. He vanquished Assyria and 
drove away all foes from the borders of his land. As 
romantic as fiction is the reign of this able ruler. In 
the first acts of his reign he persecuted the Christians 
with fiery intolerance, verily believing, like Paul, that he 
was right in so doing. Gregory, the saint of Armenia, 
reared in the Christian faith from childhood, preached 
the gospel in his native land ; but the king imprisoned 
him for fifteen years in a pit. The light of truth could 
not be imprisoned, and, beginning with the king himself 
and the nobles, it soon won the hearts of nearly all the 
people. The eventful reign of Tiridates lasted nearly 
half a century. His brave stand against adversaries, 



THE CHILDREN OF HAIG — THE ARMENIANS. 5 I 

his heroic courage in battle, power of conviction, firm- 
ness of character, and keen sense of justice — all unite 
in making him one of the greatest and most beloved of 
our rulers. 

The true greatness of the father was not inherited by 
the son, Chosroes II., under whose incompetent, weak, 
and unprincipled administration calamities and dis- 
asters cursed our unhappy land and people. Provinces 
which the valor of his father had annexed to Armenia 
he failed to firmly retain. Nor is this all ; he himself, 
debauched and utterly void of religious sense, readily 
yielded to the polytheistic agitation of Persia in the 
persecution of his Christian subjects ; and thus breaking 
the double ties of policy and religion by which Armenia 
was bound to Rome, he went on the Persian side, and 
with a degrading humiliation he acceded to almost 
every ignominious demand of Sapor. Meanwhile Rome 
and Persia with redoubled vigor renewed their rival 
contentions, to the overthrow of the Armenian king and 
kingdom. While with melancholy interest we gaze 
upon the fair valleys and plains of Haig thus bathed in 
blood, with Armenia's sun fast sinking in thickest dark- 
ness, let it be remembered that the most efficient cause 
of such a threatening result was not altogether to be 
found in foreign despotisms, but in internal strifes and 
insubordination. Paean Armenians, with a firm stand 
against incipient Christianity, united their arms with 
the Persian forces in ravaging their own country and 
fighting their own nation. Traitors were common, even 
among the princes. On the other hand, some 
Armenian nobles, without religious affinity either to 
Christ or Zoroaster, were clamoring for their own feudal 



52 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

independence. Such shameful lack of unity on the 
part of the natives, I dare affirm, was the chief cause of 
the disintegration and partition of their own fatherland. 

Upon the death of Sapor in 379 there was an entire 
change in the Persian policy toward Rome, and at the 
accession of Bahrain IV. in 390 a. d., by a treaty 
Theodosius the Great ceded the eastern part, hence 
called Pers-Armenia, to Persia ; while the western part 
was annexed to the Roman empire. Upon this final 
disruption of Armenia, to conciliate the people 
Arsaces IV., then the reigning king, was made a gov- 
ernor in the name of the Roman emperor; while the 
Persian monarch appointed Chosroes, a descendant of 
another branch of the Arsacids, governor of the 
eastern part. At length, in 428 a. d., upon Bah ram 
V.'s, substitution of Persian Marzbans, i. e., o-overnor, 
with Ardashes IV., the Arsacid sway of 580 years was 
brought to an end forever. Though the Persians 
were untiring in their efforts to subvert Christianity, 
their supremacy over Armenia was marked by san- 
guinary but unsuccessful attempts to overthrow its 
firmly established and all-conquering power. 

In the year 450 a. d. was the most notable of 
Armenia's contests for religious freedom against the 
fire-worshipers of Persia. It was led by Prince 
Vartan Mamigonian, the mighty defender of the faith. 
This battle was preceded by the massacre of our 
bishops and priests, whose very blood inspired the 
Armenians to almost superhuman deeds of valor on 
the battlefield. So oreat was the slaughter of the 
Persians that a compromise, granting our fathers 
religious liberty, was effected. The despotic monarchs 



THE CHILDREN OF HAIG — THE ARMENIANS. 53 

of Persia kept a figurehead over our doomed country 
till the year 632, when Mohammedanism, which had 
begun to be a power in western Asia, was destined to 
send its first caliphs upon Armenia with fire and 
sword. For two hundred years emperors of Constan- 
tinople and Arab caliphs engaged in a long and fierce 
struggle for the mastery of our land, and with every 
rotation of fortune's wheel, as the Cross and the 
Crescent exchanged the coveted victory, our ill-starred 
land was bathed in blood. At length, Moslem arms 
having proved victorious, the caliphate gained control 
of the entire province and governed it by prefects, 

Before entering upon the few events of the next 
dynasty — so little in autonomy and so brief in duration 
— let me further make a cursory mention of the exist- 
ing state of our people in the long interregnum. 

In Pers-Armenia, with the advent of Islam's conquests 
in the East, the Persians were brought to their lowest 
ebb ; notably since the decisive battle of Nehavend in 
640-42, having sustained a crushing blow at the hands 
of Caliph Omar, they could no longer sustain the 
same extreme antipathy and dread with which our 
people had long regarded them. Yet such an ex- 
change of oppressors, from Zoroaster to Mohammed, 
should not be considered in the least an improvement ; 
they were both in origin and environment the natural 
product of the darkest ages of Asiatic barbarism, 
malicious, cruel, and savage. For our ancestors such 
a change of persecutors was of no more significance 
than that of an ill-fated soul's transfer from the paws 
of Satan into the clutches of the devil. Internally, I 
deplore beyond words to say that our people were not 



54 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

yet at liberty from the chronic state of rivalry and dis- 
sensions. On one side the turbulent princes with 
their feudal anarchy, on the other the great mass of 
the populace in their constant strife and disunion, 
made confusion worse confounded. 

Here I take occasion to say that all through our 
history our hereditary and fundamental weakness has 
been, in spite of race tenacity evidenced in our loyalty 
to our faith, language, and home, a lack of coherence 
and a mutual jealousy, which, with much regret I say, 
have proved far more humiliating to Armenians than 
any external disaster. 

Turning to the Byzantine side, we find the fortunes 
of our people by far in a more encouraging state. 
Bound with ties of one common religious sentiment, 
though not always by common doctrinal belief and 
ceremonies, our fathers united their martial ardor with 
the Greeks against the mutual enemy of their faith. 
That the Byzantines were anxious for such a union 
had been demonstrated almost at the start of the 
Saracen power in western Asia. When, in 638, the 
first Mohammedan invasion had threatened the Daron 
province, our people, in their weakened condition, of 
course could ill afford to make a stand against these 
fierce warriors of the desert, and so they were about 
to make a compromise with the Saracens, by the terms 
of which they were to enjoy the Christian religion 
unmolested. The Greek coreligionists, however, 
greatly agitated, threatened arms against our people, 
as the penalty for affiliation with Islam on any terms. 
War was averted only by most solemn pledges of 
fidelity to and co-operation with the Greeks. In the 



THE CHILDREN OF HAIG — THE ARMENIANS. 55 

Byzantine Empire our ancestors were not only an indis- 
pensable factor in civil and military service, but they 
were truly for over two hundred years the foundation 
of the empire. During this long period the throne of 
Byzantine was not Hellenic but Armenian. It was 
Armenians who wielded the scepter and Armenians 
who led the army ; the princes, statesmen, generals, 
the very backbone of the Byzantine Empire, were 
Armenians. 

My assertions are corroborated by George Finlay, 
the famous author of " Greece under Foreign Domi- 
nations," who says : 

At the accession of Leo III. (717), the Hellenic race occu- 
pied a very subordinate position in the empire. The predominant 
influence in the political administration was in the hands of 
Asiatics, and particularly of Armenians, who filled the highest 
military commands. Of the numerous rebels who assumed the 
title of emperor, the greater part were Armenians. Artabasdos, 
who rebelled against his brother, Constantine V., was an 
Armenian. Alexios Mousel, strangled by order of Constantine 
VI., in the year 790; Bardan, called the Turk, who rebelled 
against Nicephorus I. ; Arsaber (Arshavir), the father-in-law of 
Leo V., convicted of treason in 808; and Thomas, who revolted 
against Michael II., were all Asiatics and most of them 
Armenians. Many of the Armenians in the Byzantine Empire 
belong to the oldest and most illustrious families in the Christian 
world; and their connection with the remains of Roman society 
at Constantinople, in which the pride of birth was cherished, was 
a proof that Asiatic influence had eclipsed Roman and Greek in 
the government of the empire. 

It is needless to point out herewith that even some 
of the houses of the Byzantine Empire were founded 
and ruled over in almost unbroken line by our an- 
cestors. 



56 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

We must now turn to the fortunes of the third 
Armenian dynasty. 

PAGRADID DYNASTY. 743-IO79. 

In 743 a. d., a hundred years after the famous battle 
of Nehavend, in the midst of ephemeral dynasties, rag- 
ing wars, and dissensions in Armenia, we find a prince 
of an old and powerful family of Pagrad, by the name 
of Ashod, who, having gathered sufficient strength, 
had exercised controlling influence over central and 
northern Armenia. As to the origin and extent of his 
power we cannot speak with any degree of accuracy. 
We know, however, from the evidence of history, that 
he founded the basis of a sufficiently strong dynasty, 
the independence of which was properly recognized in 
885 by the caliphs under the brave championship of 
Ashod I. 

In the regular line of succession : Ashod II., the 
" Iron " ; his brother and successor, Appas ; and Ashod 
III., the Merciful, were all competent and brave lead- 
ers, whose prowess drove the invaders of Armenia to a 
respectable distance and whose sagacity filled the land 
with fortified places. Opulence and martial glory and 
brighter days of former prosperity seemed to have re- 
turned under such exploits, which were above the level 
of their contemporaries, yet the chain of powerful rulers 
seems to break somewhere in the line of succession, for 
royal fathers seldom breed royal sons. Such was the 
case of Simpad, the son of Ashod III., who possessed 
none of the brilliant qualities of his fathers ; in fact, he 
had a temper and disposition directly opposite to that 
of his fathers. He was incompetent, cruel, and corrupt 




COAT OF ARMS AND FLAGS OF ANCIF.NT ARMENIA. 



58 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

in the extreme ; yet if exquisite taste of regal pomp and 
beauty should be considered a redeeming feature in 
such a depraved character, he did possess it in a most 
extravagant measure. His royal capitol -on the north 
of Mt. Ararat ; the city of Ani, with its palaces, castles, 
towers, and iooi churches, whose ruins cope to-day 
with the antiquities of Babylon in their grandeur, bear 
adequate testimony to this trait of his character. 

Without attempting a detailed account of events of 
the short line of the Pagradids, we deem it sufficient to 
state that Byzantine folly and weakness, aided by inter- 
nal disruption of nobles, caused the eventual ruin of the 
dynasty. 

The name of Emperor Constantine Monomachos 
stands black in the history of the Eastern Empire. His 
utter worthlessness as a statesman, and as a man of 
sense of responsibility, his debauched indulgence in 
selfish and short-sighted gratifications, did not simply 
cause Armenia's destruction, but opened Asia Minor 
to the Turks, which was the first step to Islam's subse- 
quent supremacy over the Christians of the East, and 
to the final overthrow of the Byzantine Empire in 1453. 
This is the sum and substance of the criminal impru- 
dence of his folly. The frontiers of Iberian, Armenian, 
and Syrian provinces were exempted from tributary 
taxation in consideration of maintaining forces in de- 
fense of the internal territories and in protection of the 
central government itself. Monomachos, discarding 
the wise policy in vogue, ordered the military opera- 
tions to cease, and that taxes be collected. Such an 
imbecile act at once threw the southeastern frontier 
wide open to the torrents of Moslem invaders. Nor is 



THE CHILDREN OF HAIG — THE ARMENIANS. 59 

this the whole account of his folly. With unquenchable 
greed of more taxes, he demanded from Cakig the sur- 
render of his kingdom, and upon his refusal the em- 
peror without scruple entered into an alliance with 
the Saracens, and, aided by some native traitors too, 
easily managed the surrender of Ani. The surrender 
of Ani, the last bulwark of our people, was Armenia's 
grave, the deadly Waterloo, and resulted in the subse- 
quent overthrow of our dynasty. For such an act, our 
ancestors justly looked upon the Greeks as oppressors, 
and in consequence of such a feeling the natural ties of 
religion which united them against the enemies of their 
common faith were dissolved, and our people would no 
longer co-operate with them or fight their battles. The 
Turks were ready. The frontier provinces, now unpro- 
tected, offered an easy entrance to Seljuk inroads, which 
in the course of time resulted in the final destruction of 
the Byzantine Empire itself. In the year 1079, amid 
overwhelming tragedies, the control of the territory 
passed to Constantinople. 

THE RHUPENIAN DYNASTY. IO80-I393. 

The Byzantine Empire, under the sway of weak and 
unstable monarchs, was on the road to rapid decline 
before the conquering arms of the Moslem. Seljuks 
poured into Asia Minor like a mighty deluge, and 
reached as far as to Nicaea, only fifty miles from Con- 
stantinople. Meanwhile, Armenian settlements, in the 
form of semi-independent principalities, were scattered 
broadcast like isles in the midst of the tempest-tossed 
ocean of Mohammedanism. The dwindling successors 



60 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

of imperial Trajan could no longer exert any extended 
controlling influence upon the affairs of the Armenian 
people. Under such surroundings and circumstances, 
Rhupen, a relative of Cakig, the last king of the Pa- 
gradid house, with sufficient strength raised the stand- 
ard of independence in the mountains of northeastern 
Cilicia, and under the shadow of Taurus builded up a 
petty kingdom, known as Lesser Armenia, whose 
dominions duly extended over Cilicia and Cappadocia. 
This little kingdom, for close on three centuries of its 
existence, was for the most part in a state of compara- 
tive prosperity ; yet its tranquillity was not perpetuated, 
for when the Mameluke of Egypt passed through our 
country with fire and sword, the people, in the hope of 
protection, allied themselves with the Mongol hordes of 
Genghiz Khan. Such an alliance, however, proved of 
no moment to the terrible fury of the conquering hosts 
of the Egyptian Sultan Schaban, who, with boundless 
vengeance, made an end once for all to the last ill- 
fated dynasty of our fathers (1375 a. d.). 

Rhupenians are conspicuous for their connection with 
the crusaders. It was through the aid of Constantine, 
Rhupen's son, that the Christians captured Antioch ; 
and again in later years we find Levon, who allied 
himself with Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in the third 
crusade and aided him in the capture of Iconium (1190). 
Thus Rhupenians, with the kings of Cyprus, formed 
the last bulwark of Christianity in the East. 

Levon VI. (Ghevond VI.), the last of the line, was 
captured in 1375, in spite of a vigorous defense at Gafar, 
and banished into Egypt, where, after six years of cap- 
tivity, he was set free. Upon his liberation, having 



THE CHILDREN OF HAIG — THE ARMENIANS. 6l 

spent years of extensive travel through Europe, he 
settled in Paris, until the time of his death in 1393, 
where he was buried by the high altar in the Chapel of 
St. Denis. The following inscription still exists upon 
his monument : 

Here Lies 
LEVON VI. 

The Noble Louisinian Prince 
- The King of Armenia 
Who died 1393 A. D., Nov. 23d, in Paris. 

The author counts it his good fortune when in Paris to 
have visited his tomb. What thoughts filled the mind, 
what feelings moved the heart of an Armenian youth, 
as he stood in a strange land by the grave of the last 
king of his country ! Time and distance cannot affect 
the profound impression of that scene. It is said that 
his body, clad in robes of white, with a golden scepter 
placed within his hand and an opal crown upon his 
head, was carried to the tomb in regal pomp. Thus 
sadly does the unseemly show of death's procession 
mock at life's stern realities. 

With the disappearance of this last shadow of 
Armenian independence, our country has remained to 
this very day a land of many sorrows. Of all the alien 
dominations in the history of Armenia, none has 
been so unbearable to our unhappy people as the 
domination of the Mohammedan power, which still 
continues to curse homes and fatherland. We find 
about the year 1300 Tamerlane, the Napoleon of 
Asia, entered into Armenia and brought upon its 
people horrors of unspeakable carnage. Indeed, 



62 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

wherever Tamerlane set his foot his conquests were 
marked with the wholesale massacre of the inhabitants 
and the utter desolation of their cities and villages. 
In the city of Van he threw the inhabitants from the 
walls of the castle, until the corpses almost reached 
to the height of the walls. At Sivas, ancient Sebaste, 
he buried over four hundred Armenians alive. These 
graves are known to this day as "black graves," 
which places of melancholy interest I have often 
visited. 

In 1604 about forty thousand of the Armenians were 
forcibly transplanted into Persia, by Shah Abbas, who, 
after his contest with Ahmed I., had laid waste our 
unhappy country. 

No nation better illustrates the vicissitudes of 
history than does the Armenian. Her fortunes, like 
her country's boundary, have varied with every chang- 
ing generation. Assyrian, Persian, Macedonian, 
Roman, Byzantine, Arab, Seljuk, Tartar, and Ottoman 
have all swept across our fair land with fire and sword, 
with a regularity of the motion of the heavenly bodies 
in their courses ; and yet what a marvelous vitality 
and strength Armenians must have possessed to have 
withstood the clash and combat of twenty centuries ; 
while contemporary nations have long since vanished 
and passed away. As we look upon Armenia's past mis- 
fortunes, and her culminating tragedies of to-day, shall 
we attribute such mutilation wholly to inherent weak- 
ness ? True, insubordination and jealousy have ever 
been our people's national sin, — indeed, our national 
curse, — for which we have paid very dearly. Yet it 



THE CHILDREN OF HAIG— THE ARMENIANS. 63 

cannot be said of us that we are craven in spirit or 
utterly supine. Our people have existed from the 
deathless and forgotten past to this very day, and this 
fact alone, when compared -with the decline of our con- 
temporaries, is ample proof that had it not been for 
the characteristic vitality, courage, and heroism of its 
people, our race would have ceased to exist long cen- 
turies ago. Here it will be most fitting to briefly 
touch on Armenians of to-day and on their character- 
istics. The recent massacres, their development and 
causes, we have recorded at length in another chapter 
of this volume. 

Prior to these widespread Armenian massacres, the 
great mass of Americans, in their almost total igno- 
rance of Armenians, confused us with the Turks, in a 
manner not unlike to some of our ignorant people, 
who presumed the Americans were civilized sons of 
once uncivilized North American Indians. Quite 
frequently have I myself been introduced in my 
lectures to American audiences as " the young Chris- 
tian Turk with an unpronounceable name." What an 
undeserved encomium to the Turk ; who, ever loyal to 
the Saracen Prophet, never embraces Christian morals 
and ethics, and what an unwarranted disparagement to 
the "young man with an unpronounceable name," 
whose fathers have been Christians ever since there 
was Christianity. Nor is religion the only gulf that 
separates the Armenian from the Turk, but in race, 
in nationality, in language, in character, and aspect 
there is equally as wide and irreconcilable a separation, 
and as truly marked, as the separation of the American 
from the " Red Man in the West." Let us then briefly 



6\ THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

consider the distinguishing characteristics of these 
two antagonistic peoples. Let us first take the 
race. 

Ethnologists treat of Aryans and Turanians among 
the primitive human families, as to either their com- 
plexion or intelligence. Armenians, known as the 
" Anglo-Saxons of the East," are of pure Caucasian 
blood and belong to the progressive nations of the 
Western civilization, to the great Aryan family of races, 
while the Turks, with a mighty host of Asiatics, belong 
to the Turanian race and are of Mongolian blood. 
Thus they do not belong even to the next best of 
races, the Semitic, but are at the bottom of the race 
ladder. There is no social intercourse, nor is there 
any intermarriage between these unlike races ; for it 
has been the ruling trait in the Armenian national 
character throughout all ages to remain as much 
isolated as possible from the Turanian and other 
elements of lower order; and, to be sure, it is 
largely due to this centuries-rooted separation that our 
conquered race has not been lost in the alien blood of 
the conqueror. In nationality, as has been indicated 
in the first pages of this chapter, the Armenians are 
the sons of Haig, and we are the aborigines of the 
region that lies under the shadow of Ararat, the birth- 
place of civilization, where we have lived for centuries 
immemorial, amid the hallowed recollections of Eden, 
and to-day, notwithstanding the wrecks of time, we 
still cry : 

" Might I choose from the world where my dwelling should be, 
I would say, Still thy ruins are Eden to me, 
My beloved Armenia! " 



THE CHILDREN OF HAIG — THE ARMENIANS. 65 

There is nothing in common, in the national 
memories of the Turk, with the Armenian, except the 
fact that, as a member of. one of the most widely 
scattered nomadic tribes of central Asia, he has 
encamped in the land of our fathers, as an alien tyrant 
holding- our people in bondage ; and, after the lapse of 
five centuries, he is to-day every inch the same alien 
tyrant, hostile, intolerant, and destructive. Among 
other nations, when a conquest has continued as long 
a time as Turkish conquests have in Armenia, both 
the conquerors and the conquered have managed to 
affiliate in a peaceful fellowship, and in most cases 
have become one people, with a common interest and 
government, but this has not been the case with the 
Turk. Turk he is, Turk he has remained, and Turk 
he will remain to the end. His religious and political 
interests are not the interests of the Armenian, any 
more than the interests of the Turk have been the 
interests of the Greek, the Bulgarian, and many other 
races whom he has conquered in their own lands. In 
the strictest sense, the Turkish Sultan is not the 
national sovereign of the Armenians, or even of 
Turkey itself ; for Turkey is made up of different 
peoples of diverse interests and aspirations. So let 
us clearly bear in mind that while we speak of the 
Armenian as being a Turkish subject, we should not 
associate ideas of national affiliation and fellowship, 
which we are usually accustomed to associate with 
other countries. 

That there is a great contrast in the character and 
aspect of these two peoples, so diverse in their charac- 
teristics of relioion, race, and nationality, can easily be 



66 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

understood. To Turkish dullness, depravity, and 
worthlessness, as a government and as an individual, 
we have, in the pages of this book, frequently referred 
on good authority, and from personal observation and 
well-authenticated facts. 

Consider a moment as you reflect upon the career of 
the Turks, and you will scarcely find a people on the 
face of the earth so hateful to all civilizing influences 
of the age as the Turks. They have come in contact 
with Europe, but have not been influenced by its civili- 
zation. Whatever the evolution of the times has done 
for other people, it has done nothing for the Turks. 
Branded with the stagnation of primitive times, they 
have contrived to abstain from the blessings of civiliza- 
tion. Science and philosophy are alien to the minds 
of even their high governmental and religious func- 
tionaries. Rev. J. F. Riggs, one of the American 
missionaries in Turkey, relates that the late Sir Henry 
Austin Layard, the English diplomatist and archaeol- 
ogist, toiled along with one of the Turkish pashas to 
interest him in astronomy. He gave glowing accounts 
of the sun, moon, and stars, and especially he 
described the comets, with their strange mystery. 
When he paused at last, the pasha said, " Well, you 
say that the comet comes near and then goes away 
again ? " " Yes, I said that," replied the veteran 
Englishman. " Very well," retorted the pasha, " let it 
go." Such a response from a Turkish governor, who 
represents the highest culture of his people, might well 
illustrate the scope of Turkish intelligence. 

As to Armenians, we have our own civilization and 
culture. If our civilization and culture are not as high 




JOHN AYVAZOVSK, THE ARMENIAN PAINTER. 



68 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

as those of Western nations, we are a progressive 
people, at least, which is a marvelous quality to pos- 
sess in a land like Turkey, where stagnation reigns 
supreme. 

One need only become acquainted with the Armenian 
race to convince himself in regard to the superior place 
which our people occupy in the advance march of 
civilization. We have our own literature, rich with 
poets, historians, critics, translators, and scholars. Nor 
are the Armenians less conspicuous in the field of 
commercial and political activity. Indeed, in spite of 
the most gigantic obstacles thrown on the path of the 
progress and development of our race, the Armenians 
have, as a people, always occupied an advanced posi- 
tion in everything that requires energy, capacity, and 
intelligence. This is true not only of the Armenians 
in the Ottoman Empire, but in Russia and in India, 
and, indeed, wherever they may be found. Should my 
reader be disposed to think that the encomium I have 
paid to my race is overdrawn or too loud, let him read 
the following abstracts from men of the greatest 
authority, who know our people, and whose names alone 
are sufficient guaranty for the disinterestedness and 
sincerity of their motives. While there is a host of 
them, I shall quote only from a few men. 

The historian Professor James Bryce says : 

They are a strong race, not only with vigorous nerves and 
sinews, physically active and energetic, but also with conspicuous 
brain power. Thus they have held a very important place among 
the inhabitants of western Asia ever since the sixth century. If 
you look into the annals of the East Roman, or Byzantine, Empire, 
you will find that most of the men who rose to eminence in its 



THE CHILDREN OF HAIG— THE ARMENIANS. 69 

service as generals or statesmen during the early Middle Ages 
were of Armenian stock. So was it also after the establishment 
of the Turkish dominion in Europe. . Many of the ablest men in 
the Turkish service have been Armenian by birth or extraction. 
The same is true with regard to the Russian service. Among all 
those who dwell in western Asia, they stand first, with a capacity 
for intellectual and moral progress, as well as with a natural 
tenacity of will and purpose, beyond that of all their neighbors, 
not merely of Turks, Tartars, Kurds, and Persians, but also of 
Russians. 

The famous author Emile De Laveleye says, in 
" The Balkan Peninsula " : 

The Armenians are intelligent, laborious, economical, and 
excellent business men. They occupy official appointments in 
the administration of the Ottoman Empire, and in Constanti- 
nople they are the chief promoters of economical activity. Their 
civilization is among the oldest in Asia. Their annals date from 
the earliest historic times. 

The late Rev. H. G. O. Dwight, D. D., one of the 
pioneer missionaries of the American Board among 
our people, reflects the observations of many years in 
these words : 

They [Armenians] have shown themselves to be superior to 
any other race in commercial tact and in mechanical skill. The 
principal merchants are Armenians, and nearly all the great 
bankers of the government; and, whatever arts there are that 
require peculiar ingenuity and skill, they are almost sure to be in 
the hands of the Armenians. . . In one word, they are the 
Anglo-Saxons of the East. 

Armenian progress has, owing to the unfortunate 
condition of the country, made itself more felt abroad 
than at home. I might draw up a very long catalogue 
of Armenians who have highly distinguished them- 



JTO THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

selves in various branches of arts and sciences, but a 
few only need here be mentioned: The painter John 
Ayvazovsk of the Council of the St. Petersburg 
Academy of Fine Arts, whose works adorn the 
imperial palaces of the Czar, the Sultan of Turkey, and 
other royal dignitaries ; Nubar Pasha, the ex-prime 
minister of the Egyptian government; while Dikran 
and Boghos Pashas are equally great in African states- 
manship. Among expert physicians in Turkey are 
Doctors Mateosian, Khorassanjian, Dobrashian, Var- 
tanian, etc., while among the greatest lawyers are 
Mosditchian and Tingnerian. Among musicians are 
Chonkhajian, Devletian, Surenian, and a young lady 
named Nartoss, who frequently presides at the piano 
before the Sultan. The Sultan's treasurer, Portukalian 
Pasha. The chief counselor in the foreign office at 
Constantinople, Harontiune Dadian Pasha. The Sul- 
tan's photographers, Abdullah brothers and Sebah. 
The Sultan's personal jeweler, Chiboukjian. H. E. 
Daud Pasha was the first "Christian" governor, who 
became, after the massacre of the Christians of Mt. 
Lebanon in i860, the governor-general of that region. 
The magnificent hospital at Smyrna is a monument to 
Startalian's benevolence. Many steamers which ply 
on the Mediterranian are owned by Balyivzian. The 
chess player Adamian, the Berlin mineralogist 
Azruni, the London archaeologist Hormuzd Rassam* 
the Zurich chemist Abelianz, and bankers and finan- 
ciers in almost every country prove that Armenia is 
more nearly abreast of the Western World than is 
perhaps generally suspected. The splendid Lazareff 
Institute at Moscow, with its twenty professors of 




H. E. DAUD PASHA, LATE ARMENIAN GOVERNOR OF MOUNT LEBANON, 



72 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

Oriental languages, is an imperishable monument to 
the enlightened generosity of an Armenian millionaire 
of the last century. 

In Russia there are quite a number of Armenian 
generals, some of whom have been the greatest in the 
Czar's army. Let me mention the names of a few of 
them : Count Yoris Melikoff ; Generals Lazareff, 
Tergukasoff, Lucasoff ; Kishmishian, the commander 
of Caucasus ; Hagop Alkhazian, Alexander Lalayian, 
Demedr Der Asadurian, Ishkhan Mannelian, Alexan- 
der Gorganian, Ishkhan Gochaminassian, Aeakel 
Khantamirian, and others. 

In all the great cities of Russia the Armenians are 
conspicuous. University and college professors, 
judges, mayors, and high civil functionaries are to 
be found on every hand. Let me recall the names of 
a few Only : Minister of Education, Count Hovhaunes 
Telyanian ; the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Asia, 
Gamazian ; Counselor of Education, Mugerditch Emin ; 
professor in the Royal University at Moscow, Nerses 
Nersesian, and De Shilantz in the medical college 
at Kharcof ; A. Madanian, mayor of Tiflis ; V. 
Keghamian, mayor of Erevan, and many others. 
Nor are the Armenians in Persia and India less con- 
spicuous. Chahanguir Khan, the Minister of Arts and 
superintendent of the Arsenal ; Nirza Melkoum Khan, 
the ex-ambassador of Persia at London ; Nazar Agha, 
the ambassador of Persia at Paris ; General Sharl 
Bezirganian, the general superintendent of the tele- 
graph service. Go where you will, — Turkey, Russia, 
India, Persia, Egypt, Poland, Transylvania, Roumania, 
and throughout central Asia, — and you will find the 



THE CHILDREN OF HAIG — THE ARMENIANS, 73 

Armenian holding a high, if not always a leading, posi- 
tion in trade and arts. In commercial affairs our 
people are large producers as well as middlemen and 
financiers. In Asia Minor and Persia the manufacture 
of carpets and rugs, so renowned throughout the world, 
is almost entirely in the hands of the Armenians; and, 
in addition, in Constantinople and every town of 
Asiatic Turkey our people form the professional class 
par excellence. 

J cannot close this chapter on the fortunes of my 
people without an appeal to that great cosmopolitan 
nation, the secret of whose marvelous unity is free- 
dom and intelligence, to aid in the enlightenment, 
encouragement, and consequent liberation of a people, 
kindred though remote, who, through the thick fogs of 
tyranny and gloom of oppression, have kept intact the 
love of liberty, the very font of manhood, together 
with those qualities that make good citizenship — 
strength and sobriety. 



ARMENIAN LITERATURE. 



" The Armenian literature is rich and continuous, uninterrupted 
through all the Middle Ages. It has furnished philosophers, his- 
torians, theologians, and poets." — Professor Emile de Laveleye. 

FOLK-LORE, the mother of literature, with its 
legends and simple rural songs, forms the fountain- 
head of every nation's purest thought and noblest sen- 
timent. Long, long ere letters were invented, the enrap- 
tured heart of the poet broke forth in song, the rhythm 
so complete that not a word could be changed without 
destroying the sense. Was it not so with blind Homer ? 
Armenia's heritage of song is her richest treasure, 
bequeathed by misty figures of the prehistoric past. 
So ancient are her melodies that they seem the breath 
of her body and the light of her soul. 

A country's scenery, its lofty mountains, green hills, 
and fertile valleys exert an influence upon the physical 
conditions and intellectual standards of its people that 
cannot be overestimated. Switzerland, with its grand 
uplifting heights, is famed for the inborn love of 
liberty cherished by its people. Burns, living close to 
nature's heart, sang sweetly and truly Scotland's charm ; 
and to-day his songs the world over with magic touch 
raise fond uplifting memories in many an exiled 
Scottish heart. Armenia, too, has her bards, whose 
songs are enriched by the natural scenery which first 
echoed their refrain. The native poet's passion for 

74 



ARMENIAN LITERATURE. 75 

birds and flowers inspires his every line, while the 
varied perfumes of the fields breathe from many a 
stanza. From the sunny vales and hills, with memories 
around and the moldering generations beneath, the 
shepherd's strain floats out and fills the solitary places 
with the old tuneful names of Armenia's heroic race. 
How their sweet and mournful melodies lulled my boy- 
hood, and how the memory still thrills my exile heart ! 

There is a paucity of Armenian written literature prior 
to the Christian era. This is due in a large measure to 
St. Gregory's religious zeal, which really amounted to 
fanaticism ; for, in order to give the incipient Chris- 
tianity a clear headway, he caused a wholesale destruc- 
tion of everything pagan, — literature, monuments, and 
temples, — apparently without a moment's consideration 
of their inestimable worth to posterity. Thus the great 
illuminator of religion became the eliminator of 
Armenian literature. However, we have proof that the 
national enthusiasm for knowledge is not of modern 
inspiration. So proud a people will not willingly let 
their deeds of valor on hard-fought fields die unrecorded, 
and we find that the names of heroes and sa^es were 
household words at every family altar and fireside, and 
that cherished names and historical events, garnered in 
national song and story, were handed from generation 
to generation as sacred traditions for centuries, until the 
art of writing became common. 

Modern archaeologists have discovered and deciphered 
ancient cuneiform records which form a valuable 
acquisition to traditionary lore. Assyrian, Greek, and 
Hebrew records help to fill in the missing links in an 
almost unbroken chain, so that Armenian tradition may 



y6 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

be said to more nearly approach historical literature 
in nature and value than that of any other nation of 
the earth. The unwritten history of the masses is con- 
firmed in most essential points by the modern reading 
of the records of the few who were able to engrave the 
facts of history on the rocky face of the everlasting 
hills. Time has dealt kindly with these precious 
records, and the curious student may find a full account 
of their discovery in the annals of archaeology. Like 
the tombs of Egypt, the cradle of the human race is 
slowly but surely giving up the secrets of thousands of 
years. The earliest and most valued of our historical 
sources is the work of Agathangaegos, the private 
secretary of King Tiridates of Armenia, who flourished 
in the third century of the Christian era. 

The rarest manuscripts I have seen are found in the 
alcoves of Armenian monastic libraries. About two 
thousand of them are preserved at Etchmiazin, and 
twelve hundred in the convent of San Lazaro at Venice. 
The Royal Library at Paris, through the emissaries of 
Louis XIV., procured about two hundred, and there are 
several in the Bodleian Library and the British Museum. 
Many of these are the work of inferior or obscure 
writers, but all of them have a great value because of 
their antiquity and the painstaking care with which the 
laborious work of copying was done. 

In the fifth century, a period of marked intellectual 
activity, lived Moses of Chorene, known among his 
countrymen as Movses Khorentzi, by far the best- 
known and the most important source of Armenian 
history. Indeed he may be the called the Herodotus 
of the Armenian people. He treasured in his works 



ARMENIAN LITERATURE. JJ 

the traditional history, stories, and ballads of his time, 
parts of which were handed down orally with an accu- 
racy unusual in tradition. 

Western readers are familiar with the work of Bishop 
Ulfilas, who first gave literary form to the Gothic by 
devising an alphabet and translating the Bible. In this 
same fifth century St. Mesrob, an illustrious prelate of 
an Armenian monastery, rendered similar service to 
Armenia by modifying the alphabet to its present 
form, and then translating the Bible into our language. 
St. Mesrob is sometimes called the inventor of the 
Armenian letters, but this is a greater honor than is his 
due. Prior to his introduction of the Armenian charac- 
ters the Greek alphabet was used by our nation. It 
appears that our patriarch Isaac the Great first under- 
took the translation of the Bible, but, inasmuch as the 
Persians had destroyed all the Greek manuscripts, he was 
obliged, with the aid of Mesrob, to make a translation 
from the Peshito, or Syriac version, and they actually 
completed their translation from this version. But 
Jonnes Ecceleusis and Josephus Palnensis, pupils of St. 
Mesrob, returning from the Ecclesiastical Council of 
Ephesus to which they were delegated, brought with 
them an accurate copy of the Greek Bible, the authentic 
text of which led Mesrob to abandon his translation 
from the Peshito and to commence anew from the 
Greek. Hampered by his imperfect knowledge of 
Greek, he found it necessary to send his pupils to 
centers of Greek scholarship to acquire a thorough 
knowledge of that tongue. Upon their return the 
translation was accomplished, after almost a half century 
of persevering toil. So remarkable is this translation 



yS THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

in its accuracy and beauty of diction, so perfect in its 
classic style, that to this very day it is known as the 
"Queen of Versions." In the Old Testament this ver- 
sion closely adheres to the Septuagint, with the excep- 
tion of the book of Daniel, which follows the version of 
Theodotion ; while the version of the New Testament 
is faithful to the original Greek. 

In the sixth century, upon the occasion of an organic 
union between the Armenian and the Syrian churches, 
this version was revised and adapted to the Peshito ; 
yet the original has suffered much interpolated altera- 
tion, notably in the thirteenth century, when King 
Hethom of Armenia, an ardent Roman Catholic who 
afterward became a Franciscan monk, adapted the 
Armenian version to the Vulgate for the purpose of 
opening the way for the union of the Armenian and 
Roman churches. 

The translation of the Bible operated powerfully on 
our language and literature by giving a great impulse 
to literary and intellectual activity. The Grecian 
philosophy, which was held in profound admiration by 
our scholars, was called to the aid of our Christian 
theology. An eager crowd of Armenian students and 
writers flocked to the educational centers of the Orient 
and the Occident, and brought back home with them 
the best of learning for the cultivation of their own 
literature. To their translations we are indebted for 
the preservation of many valuable works partially or 
wholly lost in the original. Among these are: The 
Chronicle of Eusebius ; the Discourses of Philo ; 
homilies by St. Chrysostom, Severianus, Basil the 
Great, and Ephraim Syrus ; the epistles of Ignatius, 



ARMENIAN LITERATURE. 79 

translated from the Syrian version ; the Catechesis of 
Cyril of Jerusalem ; several homilies by Chrysostom, 
etc. Of this period, the late Professor Philip Schaff of 
Union Theological Seminary says : 

In spite of the unfavorable state of political and social affairs 
in Armenia during this epoch, more than six hundred Greek and 
Syrian works were translated within the first forty years after 
the translation of the Bible; and as in many cases the original 
works have perished, while the translations have been preserved, 
the great importance of this whole literary activity is appar- 
ent. . . The period, however, was not characterized by transla- 
tions only. Several of the disciples of Mesrob and Sahak left 
original works. Esnik wrote four books against heretics, printed 
at Venice in 1826, and translated into French by Le Vailliant de 
Florival, Paris, 1853. A biography of Mesrob by Korium, homi- 
lies by Mambres, and various writings by the Philosopher David 
have been published; and the works of Moses of Chorene, pub- 
lished in Venice in 1842, and again in 1864, have acquired a wide 
celebrity; his history of Armenia has been translated into Latin, 
French, Italian, and Russian. 

From the seventh to the tenth century is the period 
of Armenia's most flourishing literature ; while the 
sixth century, which marked the separation of the 
Armenian from the Greek Church after the Council of 
Chalcedon, may well be called the dormant era of the 
Armenian literature, in view of the fact that all inter- 
course with Greek centers of learning was cut off by 
the Persians. 

From the seventh to the twelfth century many 
historical, theological, and biographical writers and 
writers of hymns flourished. The twelfth and the 
thirteenth centuries, in which Syriac influence pre- 
dominated, was a period of great literary activity. In 



80 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

the twelfth, among leading writers Nerses Shinorhali 
stands foremost as a poet, whose hymns of deep 
spiritual intensity are still chanted in the Armenian 
churches. Nerses Lambronensis was also famous as a 
biblical scholar and orator. Michael Syrus the his- 
torian, whose work has been edited with a French 
translation by Langlois (Paris, 1864), was not less 
famous. The leading- authors of the thirteenth century 
were Krikor Sgnevratzi, Kevork Sgnevratzi, Mukhitar 
Anetzi ; and Bishops Vanayan and Vartan, who wrote 
commentaries and historical works. 

Later the Armenians of the West gave to literature 
such names as Rivola (1633), Villote, La Croze, 
Osgan, and others, who were all eclipsed by St. Martin. 
In Russia and France the Armenians ranked among 
the best writers; while Justi, Neumann, and Perter- 
mann in Germany have made enviable reputations. For 
my readers the names of Armenian literary lights 
would be only a tedious catalogue of unpronounceable 
words ; to write something of their lives and activities 
would require volumes. It is sufficient, however, to 
note that, in spite of the political disasters which have 
signalized our history, the Armenians have always 
maintained a national literature of the highest order, 
and our language has at the same time been per- 
fected by modifications and changes in orthography, 
syntax, and style. As to its relation to other languages, 
there are conflicting opinions among scholars. By 
some it it held to be an original tongue, so distinct 
from the rest in its fundamental character that it can- 
not be classed with any of the great families of lan- 
guages ; while by others it is classed with the Medo- 



ARMENIAN LITERATURE. 8l 

Persian family. To this latter classification, however, 
we cannot subscribe ; for the -apparent similarity, we 
believe, is simply due to the adoption of a few words 
resulting from our country's conquest, while no funda- 
mental likeness can be shown. The prevalent belief 
now is that the Armenian belongs to the independent 
branch of the Indo-European family of languages. It 
is an inflected lauguage with four conjugations and 
twelve declensions. In syntax, particularly in the use 
of the participle, the classical Armenian bears a close 
resemblance to the ancient Greek, but it has no gram- 
matical gender or dual form, and its definite articles 
are suffixes of a sino-le letter. As to accent the Ian- 
guage is deficient, there being no stated rules ; but it 
generally falls on the last syllable. 

The modern Armenian literature commences in the 
sixteenth century, as all other modern literature com- 
mences. Just as in religion the Reformation was the 
greatest movement in the sixteenth century, so was 
the Renaissance in the revival of letters. The action 
of European literature on Armenia commences in the 
first quarter of the present century. Distinction of the 
ancient and modern literature consists in that ancient 
Armenian is almost entirely composed of religious 
writings, both in verse and prose, while the modern 
Armenian deals with secular themes, political, social, 
scientific, patriotic. Classical Armenian flourished in 
the Church, while the modern Armenian flourished out- 
side of the Church as well as in the Church. In the 
mediaeval ages monasteries were the repositories of 
learning as well as the bulwarks of religion. The 
monks were the only scholars down to the time of the 



82 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

modern era, while in the modern Armenian literature it is 
the scholar who is the teacher as well as the priest who 
writes. Instead of monasteries schools of learning- 
have sprung- up, and when these schools do not give 
sufficient scope to the intellectual activities of the 
Armenians they are attracted by the Occidental col- 
leges and universities. 

Geographic locality has also influenced the Armenian 
language. All the climates under which the Armenians 
flourished have placed a peculiar stamp upon the lan- 
guage as well as the life, and thus the language of the 
Armenians in Turkey, in Russia, in Persia, in India, in 
France, and in the United States has its distinctively 
local characteristics. And the local governments in 
these countries have affected the Armenian thought 
to the degree of latitude and margin they have given 
to the expansion of human thought ; and thus in Russia, 
despotic as the government is, the Armenian intellect 
has found a greater scope of activity than in Turkey. 
In Russia novelists such as Raffi, and patriotic poets 
such as Batkanian and Nalbantian, and journalists such 
as Arzrooni, have flourished. In Turkey the Armenian 
language has not found as large a scope as in Russia, 
but even in the prevailing vexatious restrictions of the 
Turkish censorship of the press, the Armenian lan- 
guage has flourished to a marvelous degree. The 
Armenian language in India comes next to that of 
Russia and Turkey in importance ; but it will find its 
best expression, and Armenian intellect its greatest 
scope of activity, in France, England, and in the United 
States, owing to the kindly, genial, friendly, and liberal 
atmosphere that prevails. 





EARLY ARMENIAN MONASTERIES — REPOSITORIES OF LEARNING. 



84 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

In the present century, the work of Armenian 
Romish monks of the convent of San Lazaro, Venice, 
may rank first, as it has given a great impetus to the 
development of the literature. This convent is a relic 
of medisevalism modified by modern influence. From 
it have come original works and periodicals, many 
translations of standard books from European lan- 
guages, particularly from Italian, French, English, and 
German, together with valuable dictionaries and 
volumes of reference. This most renowned of monas- 
tic organizations was founded in 1701 by Mechitar de 
Petro, D. D., a former priest and a secretary of Arch- 
bishop Michael of the Armenian Church, who, while 
in the service of his mother Church, was in secret a 
proselyte to Rome and a Jesuit. In 1700, while he was 
a pastor at Constantinople, strife arose between two 
rival patriarchs of the national church, and the com- 
munity was divided into two parties. To Mechitar this 
was a signal opportunity to advocate submission to the 
Romish Church. Such an advocacy, however, brought 
upon him the fiery indignation of the Armenian 
Church. Indeed the storm of hostility so threatened 
to overwhelm him that the French ambassador's pro- 
tection was sought and readily afforded, whereupon 
Mechitar removed his mask and openly professed the 
Roman Catholic faith. The increasing animosity of 
the Armenians, however, drove him to Smyrna and 
from thence to Modon in Morea. In 1701 he had 
founded in Constantinople a new religious movement 
with eleven members. At Modon the Venetian 
government granted him an estate upon which to 
build a convent of the new order, and he took possession 



ARMENIAN LITERATURE. 85 

of it in 1703. War between the Turks and Venetians 
necessitated removal, and Mechitar, coming to Venice 
in 1 715, petitioned the Venetian senate for a safer site. 
In 1 71 7 they generously gave him the Island of San 
Lazaro, where a convent bearing Mechitar's name was 
duly erected and opened September 8, the birthday of 
the Virgin Mary. 

Mechitar, ever alert and ardent, never abandoned or 
lost sight of his inspiring aim, the education of his 
countrymen. Himself a born scholar, he did not lay 
aside his pen until death in 1749 took it from his hand. 
His works are largely theological and philosophical; 
but popular hymns, written while he was yet in the fold 
of the mother Church, are still sung and bear witness 
to his poetic skill and spiritual fervor. Establishing 
printing presses in the convent, he labored with untir- 
ing zeal to revive the high literary standard of 
Armenia's bygone days. 

After a lapse of almost two centuries, the Mechitar- 
ists still bear the indelible impress of their founder's 
devotion to letters ; for, in accordance with its original 
aim and mission, the place became not only a convent 
of monotonous ecclesiasticism, but an academy not 
unlike that of the French Immortals, venerable with 
years and rich in imperishable memories ; for many 
rare spirits have imparted something of themselves to 
these sacred buildings, where they have dreamed and 
worked and waited, where they have endured and lost 
or won. Here, indeed, are places associated with 
poets and statesmanlike scholars, whose story is the 
best heritage of the intellect and literature of Armenia, 
for in them all the ethical and spiritual instincts of the 



86 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

nation found representation. The convent is partic- 
ularly interesting to modern students and tourists, 
because it was there that Byron sojourned for a time, 
deeply interesting himself in Armenian literature and 
in the learned monks who were its expounders. The 
room, table, and chair where he studied the Armenian 
language are shown to visitors at the convent. Aside 
from Byron, Victor Hugo, Lamartine, Henry W. 
Longfellow, and other conspicuous lights in the world 
of letters have been ardent admirers of our literature. 
Some of the "Oriental poems" of Victor Hugo are 
adaptations from Mugarditch Beshiktashlian's poems. 
Longfellow, too, has rendered a few Armenian poems 
into English verse. This remarkable establishment 
has been so distinguished for its eminent services in 
the cause of morality and learning that, in 1810, when 
a general order for the suppression of all monastic 
institutions in Venice was issued, San Lazaro alone 
was exempted from its sweeping effects. Another 
proof of the high estimation in which the monastery 
stands is in the fact that the Pope made it his custom 
to confer upon each new abbot of San Lazaro the 
title and dignity of archbishop, although the prelate 
thus honored had neither province nor subordinate 
clergy. 

We must not forget the Armenian missionaries, who 
have furnished scientific text-books and are increasing 
the number from time to time. An Armenian who 
can afford them may have as good a practical library 
in his native language as the artisan or merchant could 
desire. Concerning this work I have spoken in the 
chapter on evangelical missions. 



ARMENIAN LITERATURE. 87 

From these facts some interesting conclusions can be 
drawn. Through four-fifths -of the Christian era 
Armenian literature has enjoyed a more perfect con- 
tinuity than that of any other Christian nation. When 
Europe was passing through the Dark Ages the Chris- 
tian Armenians of the Orient were enjoying a season 
of unparalleled intellectual activity and creating a litera- 
ture of no little value ; and the day may yet come when 
their purest songs and highest thoughts may be ranked 
among those classics which are not the possession of 
any one tongue or people, but have in them so much 
of man's heart and life that they are the legacy of the 
race. This may be seen in the poems quoted in this 
chapter. They are the productions of various writers 
and of different centuries, but their truth and beauty 
belong to no one age or clime ; for the catholicity of 
true song is theirs. Armenia's mountains, hills, and 
valleys, her birds and flowers, her kings and battles, 
her thwarted yearning for freedom, even the broken 
heartstrings of her stricken mothers, are woven into a 
bitter-sweet burst of song, amid whose gladsome 
strains sounds of woe are mingled, sunbeams and 
shadows, joy and pain. 

POEMS ON NATURE. 

Nature poetry finds in spring a strong incentive. 
Grim, slothful Winter lingers long, holding gentle Spring 
in his icy grasp. Then she rises suddenly in her youth- 
ful strength, and snowflakes change to flowers with a 
suddenness that surprises the stranger. This quick 
transition, this annual resurrection, is the theme of 



88 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

many a bard. Spring poetry is addressed to the stork, 
as harbinger of the season, who, when he comes to 
stay, brings summer with him. 

The ancients declare that spring was under the 
special care of the goddess Amah id. All the people 
joined in the feast of Varthavar, or " Rose Blossoms." 
In Christian times this has been supplanted by the three 
days' festival of the Transfiguration. The ancient 
name, the Feast of Rose Blossoms, indicates the love of 
the beautiful, which leads to the true and can have its 
origin only in the good. There is a religious halo 
about the very names of the Armenian flowers. The 
" Fountain's Blood " is a floral wonder. Was it the 
blood of righteous Abel that sprang from the ground 
as this crimson flower on a leafless stalk, calling to 
God in its blood-red simplicity for vengeance on the 
murderer? These beauties of the field and plen have 
called forth exquisite gems of thought which are 
treasured to this day. 

Summer — the short, sweet, seductive summer of 
Armenia — does not last long enough to produce ennui. 
This brief, bright pageantry of blooming, fragrant 
flowers and ripening fruit comes quickly, does its work 
in haste ; and a chill, gloomy winter succeeds, sup- 
pressing autumn before it fairly has a chance to exist. 

How much these long winters, coupled with the 
utter seclusion of the Armenian homes far away from 
the centers of population, have had to do in developing 
the poetic instinct, we can well surmise. These patri- 
archal abodes are snow-bound from October until 
May ; and from such retreats, chiefly, has come the an- 
cient and modern literature of Armenia. With what 



ARMENIAN LITERATURE. 89 

poetic fancy the return of spring is greeted may be 
seen in this little poem : 

Scarce are the clouds' black shadows 

Pierced by a gleam of light, 
Scarce have our fields grown dark again, 

Freed from the snowdrifts white, 
When you, with smiles all twinkling, 

Bud forth o'er hill and vale. 
O firstborn leaves of springtime, 

Hail to your beauty, hail! 

Not yet to our cold meadows 

Had come Spring's guest the swallow, 
Not yet the nightingale's sweet voice 

Had echoed from the hollow, 
When you, like Joy's bright angels, 

Came swift to hill and dale. 
Fresh-budded leaves of springtime, 

Hail to your beauty, hail! 

Your tender, verdant color, 

Thin stems, and graceful guise, 
How sweetly do they quench the thirst 

Of eager, longing eyes! 
Afflicted souls at sight of you 

Take comfort and grow gay. 
New-budded leaves of springtime, 

All hail to you to-day! 

Come, in the dark breast of our dales, 

To shine the hills between! 
Come, o'er our bare and shivering trees 

To cast a veil of green! 
Come, to give sad-faced Nature 

An aspect blithe and new! 
O earliest leaves of springtime, 

All hail, all hail to you! 



90 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

Come, to call up for newborn spring 

A dawn of roses fair ! 
Come, and invite the breezes light 

To play with your soft hair! 
Say to the fragrant blossoms, 

" Oh, haste! Men long for you ! " 
Hail, earliest leaves of springtime, 

Young leaves so fresh and new! 

Come, come, O leaves, and with sweet wings 

Of hope from yonder sky 
Cover the sad earth of the graves 

Wherein our dear ones lie! 
Weave o'er the bones so dear to us 

A garland wet with dew, 
Ye wings of Hope's bright angels, 

Young leaves so fresh and new.* 

The life of Archbishop Khorene Nar-bey, author of 
the above, occupies a conspicuous place in the literary 
and clerical circles of our country. A direct descend- 
ant of the royal family of Lusignan, of the last dynasty 
of Armenian kings; educated at the convent of the Mech- 
itarists in Venice, yet early leaving the Roman for the 
Armenian Church ; a pupil of Lamartine and a friend 
of Victor Hugo ; he was poet, theologian, author, orator, 
linguist, and also a diplomat of rare skill. Endowed 
with so many attainments, he consecrated his powers to 
the welfare of his countrymen by carrying to a success- 
ful issue many a delicate diplomatic mission, notably 
during the Berlin Congress in 1878. His ardent patri- 
otism roused the Turkish government against him, and 
he died at Constantinople, poisoned, it is commonly be- 
lieved, by the Sultan. 

* Most of the poems that appear in this chapter are rendered into English verse 
by Miss Alice Stone Blackwell. 



ARMENIAN LITERATURE. 91 

The birds of Armenia, like the flowers, are countless 
in number and variety. Her poets seldom write with- 
out embellishing their lines with reference to some of 
their fragrant or feathered friends of the field. The 
lament of the wandering Armenian in Totochian's song 
to the swallow will touch the heart of many a homesick 
exile : 

O swallow, gentle swallow, 

Thou lovely bird of spring! 
Say, whither art thou flying 

So swift on gleaming wing? 

Fly to my birthplace, Ashdarag, 

The spot I love the best; 
Beneath my father's roof-tree, 

O swallow, build thy nest. 

There dwells afar my father, 

A mournful man and gray, 
Who for his only son's return 

Waits vainly, day by day. 

If thou shouldst chance to see him, 

Greet him with love from me ; 
Bid him sit down and mourn with tears 

His son's sad destiny. 

In poverty and loneliness, 

Tell him my days are passed; 
My life is only half a life, 

My tears are. falling fast. 

To me, amid bright daylight, 

The sun is dark at noon; 
To my wet eyes at midnight 

Sleep comes not, late or soon. 



92 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

Tell him that, like a beauteous flower 

Smit by a cruel doom, 
Uprooted from my native soil, 

I wither ere my bloom. 

Fly on swift wing, dear swallow, 

Across the quickening earth, 
And seek in fair Armenia 

The village of my birth! 

In the following stanzas, rendered into English 
verse by the author, it appears that the partridge is a 
special favorite : 

With flowers of every hue 
Thy nest is covered over, 
Thy place is full of dew, 
Thou lovest the sweet odor. 

Little partridge, how 

Pretty, pretty thou! 

When the partridge leaves the tree, 
And chirps its happy song, 
The world sings merrily, 
The heart forgets its wrong. 

Little partridge, how 

Pretty, pretty thou ! 

By all the birds thou'rt blessed, 
And all thy feathered tribe 
To thee who art the best 
Their songs of love ascribe. 

Little partridge, how 

Beautiful art thou! 

The crane is the harbinger of summer as the stork 
is of spring, and has received his share of poetic 



ARMENIAN LITERATURE. 93 

tribute. To the Armenian under foreign skies the 
flight of the crane is always suggestive of home. His 
thoughts will recall the poets of his Oriental father- 
land. " Crane, whence comest thou ? Hast thou no 
news of my country?" Thanks to modern scientific 
research, news flies faster than the crane, and the 
Armenian in America is abreast with the times on 
the Armenian question, and has the news before 
the Armenian resident on the foothills of Ararat can 
possibly get it. 

The tender regard of Armenians for the birds of the 
air has its origin in the ancient superstition of the 
transmigration of souls. Among the ignorant it is still 
believed that the spirits of the departed visit the 
scenes of their youth in the form of birds. For this 
reason the denizens of the air are seldom disturbed 
by the Armenian peasants. Many of the poetical 
fancies in regard to them are born of the idea that 
they are the custodians of the spirits of departed 
friends. 

The limpid, laughing waters of Armenia's swift- 
descending streams, as they babble through the rocky 
channels or bound from shelving precipices in a musi- 
cal cascade, have shared the poet's fancy with the 
star-reflecting blue of the crystal lake. A delicate 
expression of the poetic charms of a mountain torrent 
watering fields and gardens in the lower valley is the 
following : 

Down from yon distant mountain 

The streamlet finds its way, 
And through the quiet village 

It flows in eddying play. 



94 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

A dark youth left his doorway, 

And sought the water-side, 
And, laving there his hands and brow, 

" O streamlet sweet! " he cried, 

" Say from what mountain com'st thou? " 

"From yonder mountain cold 
Where snow on snow lies sleeping, 

The new snow on the old." 

" Unto what river, tell me, 

Fair streamlet, dost thou flow? " 

" I flow unto that river 

Where clustering violets grow." 

"Sweet streamlet, to what vineyard, 

Say, dost thou take thy way?" 
" The vineyard where the vine-dresser 

Is at his work to-day." 

"What plant there wilt thou water?" 

"The plant upon whose roots 
The lambs feed, where the wind-flower blooms, 

And orchards bear sweet fruits." 

" What garden wilt thou visit, 

O water cool and fleet ? " 
" The garden where the nightingale 

Sings tenderly and sweet." 

" Into what fountain flowest thou? " 

" The fountain to whose brink 
Thy love comes down at morn and eve, 

And bends her face to drink. 

" There shall I meet the maiden 

Who is to be thy bride, 
And kiss her chin, and with her love 

My soul be satisfied." 






.. **£&•,. 



THE SCENE OF ARMENIAN POETS FANCY. 



g6 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

BALLAD POETRY. 

To ballad poetry the Armenian singer frequently 
turns. Many examples of this branch of the art are 
connected with the famous Lake Van, around which 
countless traditions have gathered. An excellent 
example of this class of poetry is given below : 

We sailed in the ship from Aghthamar. 
We directed our ship toward Avan; 
When we arrived before Vosdan 
We saw the dark sun of the dark day. 

Dull clouds covered the sky, 
Obscuring at once stars and moon; 
The winds blew fiercely, 
And took from my eyes land and home. 

Thundered the heaven, thundered the earth, 
The waters of the blue sea arose; 
On every side the heavens shot forth fire; 
Black terror invaded my heart. 

There is the sky, but the earth is not seen, 
There is the earth, but the sun is not seen,- 
The waves come like mountains 
And open before me a deep abyss. 

O see, if thou lovest thy God, 

Have pity on me, forlorn and wretched; 

Take not from me my sweet sun, 

And betray me not to flinty-hearted Death. 

Pity, O sea, O terrible sea! 

Give me not up to the cold winds: 

My tears implore thee 

And the thousand sorrows of my heart. „ , 



ARMENIAN LITERATURE. 97 

The savage sea has no pity! 

It hears not the plaintive voice of my broken heart; 

The blood freezes in my veins, 

Black night descends upon my eyes. . . 

Go tell to my mother 
To sit and weep for her darkened son; 
That Hovhannes was the prey of the sea, 
The sun. of the young man is set! 



RELIGIOUS POEMS. 

This little poem of the Christ-child comes to us 
from St. Gregory of Narek, who lived in the tenth 
century : 

" The lips of the Christ-child are like two twin leaves; 
They let roses fall when he smiles tenderly. 
The tears of the Christ-child are pearls when he grieves; 
The eyes of the Christ-child are deep as the sea. 
Like pomegranate grains are the dimples he hath, 
And clustering lilies spring up in his path." 

There is a sad Armenian elegy on Adam's expul- 
sion from Paradise, in theme not unlike portions of 
Milton's " Paradise Lost." But our poets have 
seldom wandered in this direction. Their themes are 
of the heart, varying, with the fortunes of the people, 
from a tone of joyful victory to that of subdued 
melancholy. 

Armenian literature is imbued with a profound faith 
in the final justice of God, which finds no parallel except 
in the literature of the Hebrew race. A literal transla- 
tion of the following stanza, though sadly marring its 
artistic effect, does not destroy the poetic thought and 



98 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

religious hope which save from despair a bereaved 
mother grieving for her child : 

" I gaze and weep, mother of my boy, 

I say alas! and woe is me! 
What will become of wretched me: 

I have seen my golden son dead! 
They seized that fragrant rose 

Of my breast, and my soul fainted away; 
They let that beautiful golden dove 

Fly away, and my heart was wounded. 
The falcon Death seized 

My dear and sweet-voiced turtle dove and wounded me. 
They took my sweet-toned little lark 

And flew away through the skies! 
Before my eyes they sent the hail 

On my flowering green pomegranate, 
My rosy apple on the tree, 

Which gives fragrance among the leaves. 
They shook my flourishing beautiful almond tree 

And left me without fruit; 
Beating it, they threw it on the ground 

And trod it under foot into the earth of the grave. 
What will become of wretched me! 

Many sorrows surrounded me. 
O my God, receive the soul of my little one 

And place him at rest in Thy bright heaven." 

The simple pathos and exquisite conception of bird- 
and-flower analogies by the rural bards are touchingly 
illustrated in the above selection. 

LOVE POEMS. 

The Eastern nations are noted for the delicate senti- 
ment and profuse imagery of their love poems, and in 
this Armenia is not lacking. Some of her poets are 
worthy to be ranked with the singers of any nation. 



ARMENIAN LITERATURE. 99 

One of these, Bedros Turian, resembles Robert Burns 
in some respects. Yet there are no contradictory 
traits in the character of the Armenian poet. Earth's 
vile passions never marred his pure love and noble 
aspirations after a higher life. He was the son of a 
blacksmith in Constantinople, and died of consumption 
in 1 87 1, at the early age of thirty-one. He left a num- 
ber of dramas and poems that enjoy a great popu- 
larity among my countrymen, though his fame came 
only after his death, when it was too late to give him 
the recognition he so vainly desired in life. Indeed, 
his life was full of adversity and sadness, and it appears 
that the very hardships which hastened his death gave 
power to his poetic genius in fathoming the depths of 
the tempest-tossed ocean of human tragedy. Poverty- 
stricken beyond endurance, helpless, friendless, and 
hopeless, sick and alone, disappointed in love, he 
touched the silvery strings of his lyre, bringing out soft, 
floating melodies full of sweet melancholy, misty sad- 
ness, and fainting loneliness. A few days before his 
death, amid the soft rustle of trees so like the gentle 
whispering of lovers, as his wandering steps lingered 
beside a little lake, his impassioned heart burst forth in 
this poetic strain : 

Why dost thou lie in hushed surprise, 

Thou little lonely mere? 
Did some fair woman wistfully 

Gaze in thy mirror clear? 

Or are thy waters calm and still 

Admiring the blue sky, 
Where shining cloudlets, like thy foam, 

Are drifting softly by? 



IOO THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

Sad little lake, let us be friends! 

I, too, am desolate; 
I, too, would fain, beneath the sky, 

In silence meditate. 

As many thoughts are in my mind 
As wavelets o'er thee roam; 

As many wounds are in my heart 
As thou hast flakes of foam. 




THE LITTLE LAKE. 



But if heaven's constellations all 
Should drop into thy breast, 

Thou still wouldst not be like my soul- 
A flame-sea without rest. 



There, when the air and thou are calm, 
The clouds let fall no showers; 

The stars that rise there do not set, 
And fadeless are the flowers. 



ARMENIAN LITERATURE. IOI 

Thou art my queen, O little lake! 

For e'en when ripples thrill 
Thy surface, in thy quivering depths 

Thou hold'st me, trembling, still. 

Full many have rejected me: 

" What has he but his lyre? 
" He trembles, and his face is pale; 

His life must soon expire! " 

None said, ' Poor child, why pines he thus? 

If he beloved should be, 
Haply he might not die, but live, 

Live and grow fair to see.' 

None sought the boy's sad heart to read, 

Nor in its depths to look. 
They would have found it was a fire, 

And not a printed book! 

Nay, ashes now! a memory! 

Grow stormy, little mere, 
For a despairing man has gazed 

Into thy waters clear! 

The following lament over his early death serves to 
bring out his intense patriotism : 

To thirst with sacred longings, 

And find the springs all dry, 
And in my flower to fade — not this 

The grief for which I sigh. 

Ere yet my cold, pale brow has been 

Warmed by an ardent kiss, 
To rest it on a couch of earth — 

My sorrow is not this. 



102 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

Ere I embrace a live bouquet 

Of beauty, smiles, and fire, 
The cold grave to embrace — not this 

Can bitter grief inspire. 

Ere a sweet, dreamless sleep has lulled 

My tempest-beaten brain, 
To slumber in a earthy bed — 

Ah, this is not my pain. 

My country is forlorn, a branch 

Withered on life's great tree; 
To die unknown, ere succoring her — 

This only grieveth me. 

The two following, by the same author, embody the 
thouQ-hts of lovers the world over : 

Were not the rose's hue like that which glows 
On her soft cheek, who would esteem the rose? 

Were not the tints of heaven like those that lie 
In her blue eyes, whose gaze would seek the sky? 

Were not the maiden innocent and fair, 

How would men learn to turn to God in prayer? 



" She was alone. I brought a gift — 
A rose, surpassing fair; 
And when she took it from my hand 
She blushed with pleasure there. 

" Compared with her, how poor and pale 
The red rose seemed to be! 
My gift was nothing to the kiss 
My lady gave to me." 



ARMENIAN LITERATURE. I03 

But the dearest and most frequent theme of the 
Armenian poet is his country— her beauty and her 
woes, the bravery of her sons and their ceaseless 
struggle for freedom from tyranny. These ideas are 
found in all classes of poems, from the lullaby the 
mother sings soft and sweet to hush the babe, to the 
most stirring songs of liberty and the fiercest notes of 
war. These ideas are illustrated in the following 
poems. The first, entitled " We Are Brothers," is the 
work of Professor Mugurditch Beshiktashlian, a 
Roman Catholic Armenian who was born in 1829 and 
was educated at the famous Convent Mechitarist. He 
died in 1868, and on his gravestone were carved the last 
lines of this, his song : 

From glorious Nature's myriad tongues, 
Though songs be breathed by lips of love, 

And though the maiden's fingers fair 
Across the thrilling harp-strings rove, 

Of all earth's sounds, there is no other 

So lovely as the name of brother. 

Clasp hands, for we are brothers dear, 

Of old by tempest rent apart; 
The dark designs of cruel Fate 

Shall fail, when heart is joined to heart. 
What sound, beneath the stars aflame, 
So lovely as a brother's name? 

And when our ancient Mother-land 

Beholds her children side by side, 
The dews of joyful tears shall heal 

Her heart's sad wounds, so deep and wide. 
What sound, beneath the stars aflame, 
So lovely as a brother's name? 



104 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

We wept together in the past; 

Let us unite in harmony 

And blend again our tears, our joys; 

So shall our efforts fruitful be. 
What sound, beneath the stars aflame, 
So lovely as a brother's name? 

Together let us work and strive, 

Together sow, with toil and pain, 
The seed that shall, with harvest blest, 

Make bright Armenia's fields again. 
What sound, beneath the stars aflame, 
So lovely as a brother's name? 

Another of the most brilliant lights in our modern 
literature is Raphael Patkanian. He is a poet beloved 
by the muses, and is known and admired by Armenians 
everywhere. His work is peculiar yet refined, melo- 
dious and tender ; and, again, loud and stormy, sparkling 
with artful rhymes and measures, and ever throwing a 
magical enchantment and melancholy sadness over 
existence. Many of his poems were written during the 
Turco-Russian war, when the Armenians in Russia 
cherished bright hopes for the deliverance of Armenia 
from the Turkish yoke. This poet was born in 1830 
in southern Russia. While at the University of 
Moscow he assembled his Armenian fellow-students 
and organized a literary club among them. Patkanian 
died in 1892, after forty-two years of continuous activity 
as an educator, journalist, and author. The following 
poem, entitled " Cradle Song," is a specimen of his work : 

Nightingale, oh, leave our garden, 
Where soft dews the blossoms steep; 

With thy litanies melodious 
Come and sing my son to sleep! 




•* 




RAPHAEL PATKANIAN. 



106 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

Nay, he sleeps not for thy chanting, 
And his weeping hath not ceased. 

Come not, nightingale! My darling 
Does not wish to be a priest. 

O thou thievish, clever jackdaw, 

That in coin findest thy joy, 
With thy tales of gold and profit 

Come and soothe my wailing boy! 
Nay, thy chatter does not lull him, 

And his crying is not stayed. 
Come not, jackdaw! for my darling 

Will not^choose the merchant's trade. 

Wild dove, leave the fields and pastures 

Where thou grievest all day long; 
Come and bring my boy sweet slumber 

With thy melancholy song! 
Still he weeps. Nay, come not hither, 

Plaintive songster, for I see 
That he loves not lamentations, 

And no mourner will he be. 

Leave thy chase, brave-hearted falcon! 

Haply he thy song would hear. 
And the boy lay hushed and slumbered, 

With the war-notes in his ear. 

We cannot more fittingly close this chapter than by- 
quoting the jewel of our songs of liberty. Its author, 
Professor Michael Ghazarian Nalbandian, was born in 
Russian Armenia in 1830. After graduating from the 
University of St. Petersburg he led an active life as an 
educator, author, and editor. Being suspected by the 
Russian government, on account of his political 
opinions, he was imprisoned for three years and then 
exiled to the province of Sarakov, where he died, in 



ARMENIAN LITERATURE. IO? 

1866, of lung disease brought on by the rigors of 
prison life. 

In Russia it is forbidden to possess Nalbandian's 
portrait, yet pictures of him, with his poem on 
" Liberty," are circulated secretly among his country- 
men. 

When God, who is forever free, 

Breathed life into my earthly frame, — 
From that first day, by His free will 

When I a living soul became, — 
A babe upon my mother's breast, 

Ere power of speech was given to me, 
Even then I stretched my feeble arms 

Forth to embrace thee, Liberty! 

Wrapped round with many swaddling bands, 

All night I did not cease to weep, 
And in the cradle, restless still, 

My cries disturbed my mother's sleep. 
" O mother! ' in my heart I prayed, 

" Unbind my arms and leave me free! " 
And even from that hour I vowed 

To love thee ever, Liberty! 

When first my faltering tongue was freed, 

And when my parents' hearts were stirred 
With thrilling joy, to hear their son 

Pronounce his first clear-spoken word, 
" Papa, Mamma," as children use, 

Were not the names first said by me; 
The first word on my childish lips 

Was thy great name, O Liberty! 

"Liberty! " answered from on high 

The sovereign voice of Destiny; 
"Wilt thou enroll thyself henceforth 

A soldier true of Liberty? 



108 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

The path is thorny all the way, 
And many trials wait for thee; 

Too strait and narrow is this world 
For him who loveth Liberty." 

" Freedom! " I answered; " on my head 

Let fire descend and thunder burst; 
Let foes against my life conspire, 

Let all who hate thee do their worst: 
I will be true to thee till death; 

Yea, even upon the gallows tree 
The last breath of a death of shame 

Shall shout thy name, O Liberty! " 



THE ARMENIAN CHURCH. 



"The Armenians may justly claim to be the oldest Christian 
nation in the world."— H. B. Tristram, D. D., LL. D., F. R. S., 
Canon of Durham, England. 

PREHISTORIC RELIGION IN ARMENIA. 

ACCORDING to the testimony of the Scriptures, 
after the resting of the ark " upon the mountains 
of Ararat," Noah offered burnt offerings upon the altar. 
Since these mountains are in our central province, 
Armenia may be said to be the earliest home of divine 
worship, and from here the patriarchal monotheism 
was transmitted to Noah's descendants. In the patri- 
archal observance of religion the father was the high 
priest of the family, officiating daily at the rude family 
altar. He was regarded with a peculiar reverence 
which we might well wish to see restored in many a 
modern home. 

The traditions of Asia Minor would seem to indicate 
that pure monotheism was the prehistoric religion of 
the Armenians, as it was the primitive religion of all 
other Aryans. We cannot, however, positively deter- 
mine the duration of that pure religion in Armenia. 
By degrees, through the influence of idolatrous neigh- 
bors, the people embraced polytheism of the Assyro- 
Babylonian type. Our cuneiform inscriptions give us 
many details of the names of the deities and the regu- 
lations for daily sacrifice. 

109 



IIO THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

With the supremacy of the Medo-Persian Empire, 
there arose in western Asia the dualistic religion of 
Zoroaster, teaching that there are two supernatural 
beings — Ormazd,* the creator and preserver of all 
things good, and Ahriman, the source of evil and 
mischief. These rival gods, having in command good 
and evil spirits, were in perpetual strife. Fire, which 
was the personification of Ormazd's son, became the 
supreme object of worship. This was the religion of 
the Armenians from the latter part of the seventh 
century b. c. until the introduction of Christianity. 

INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY. 

The Armenian Church should be of interest to every 
Christian of every country, because of its associations 
with early Christianity. It should be a delight to trace 
down the centuries the fortunes and misfortunes of a 
church founded by the first disciples of our Saviour. 

Cast a glance at the condition of the Eastern World 
at the time of Christ's advent. When Zoroastrianism 
was multiplying its gods and at the same time multi- 
plying vice and immorality, when the ancient Baby- 
lonians were in eager endeavor to keep their old, 
dying Sabaism alive, when many branches of heathen- 
ism were contemplating the manufacture of some new 
and better gods, when even the sacred religion of the 
Jews had fallen into formalism ; in a word, when the 
dark and threatening clouds of strife and controversy 
had overcast the Oriental sky, and the people were 
blundering in the darkness of superstition and igno- 

* Ormazd of the Persians is the same as Armazt of the Armenians and Jupiter 
of the Greeks. 



THE ARMENIAN CHURCH. Ill 

ranee, then rose the Sun of Righteousness to illumine 
the whole world, bearing in its radiance that angelic 
benediction, " Peace on earth, good will toward men." 

The cherished tradition of the Armenian people is 
that during the reign of our King Abgar of Edessa, 
Bartholomew, one of the Twelve, and Thaddeus, one 
of the Seventy, went about preaching the gospel in 
Armenia. As a result of their faithful labors and the 
power of the new gospel they proclaimed, the king 
and the royal family were converted and baptized in 
the river Euphrates, and, following their example, the 
whole nation turned from idolatry to the true God. 
The conversion, however, proved transient, and a short 
time after the -death of Abgar the nation relapsed into 
its former religion. 

It was reserved for St. Gregory, a prince of the 
Arshagoonian dynasty, a man mighty in the Lord, to 
turn the erring people back to Christian faith and 
worship. And with his life and work the history of 
the Armenian Church emerges from the mists of tradi- 
tion and comes out into the clear light of history. 
This learned man was sent by Tiridates (Durtad) to 
the Greek bishop Leontius of Caesarea for ordination ; 
and under the influence of his preaching the king 
himself embraced Christianity, and the people began 
once more to worship God, in spirit and in truth (302 
a. d.). From this period to the present day the faith of 
Jesus Christ has been the faith of the Armenian people. 

Tiridates bestowed on his people the imperishable 
honor of being the first nation to have a Christian 
ruler. The baptism of this Armenian king and his 
court into the Christian Church antedates that of Con- 



112 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

stantine ten years. Commonly the latter is referred 
to as the first Christian emperor, through paucity of 
information on Armenian history in the libraries of 
Europe and America. 

With Christianity came a quickening of the intel- 
lectual life of the people, and the century following 
was the golden age of Armenian literature. Schools 
were established in every part of the country, and as 
a crowning triumph the Bible was translated into the 
Armenian language in 410 a. d. Our bishops sat in 
all early councils of the one common Christian- Church, 
catholic in spirit, liberal in doctrine and government. 

THE STRUGGLE IN THE FIFTH CENTURY. 

It was not without one final struggle that Zoroas- 
trianism gave place to the incipient Church. In the 
fifth century the time came once more when the Persian 
conquerors offered as an alternative religious sub- 
mission or annihilation by the sword. It was a most 
critical moment. They must wade through a carnage 
of death to religious freedom, or desert the pure reli- 
gion of their fathers. "Christian homes, or Christian 
graves," was the unanimous watchword that echoed 
from the Armenian ranks. 

" Her head was crowned with flowers, 
Her feet were bathed with spray. 
Hers were the lands of Eden, 
The cradle of our race. 

" But then upon her borders, 

Shouted the Persian horde: 
' Fall down and worship fire, 

Or perish by the sword.' 



THE ARMENIAN CHURCH. 1 13 

" Then up sprang Armenia 

And raised her voice on high, 
And back to haughty Persia 
Rang loud the warlike cry: 

" ' I will not be a heathen, 
I will not be a slave; 
If I cannot have a Christian's home 
I'll find a Christian's grave.'" 

Men, women, children, all stood on the battleground 
in defense of their faith. One universal resolution 
prevailed : " From this belief no one can move us, 
neither angels nor men, neither fire nor sword, nor 
water, nor any tortures." In that vast throng of clergy 
and laity Prince Vartan Mamigonian, the valiant com- 
mander-in-chief of the Christian host, lifted his eloquent 
voice in a thrilling exhortation. " I entreat you, my 
brave companions," said he, " fear not the number of 
the heathen, withdraw not your necks from the terrible 
sword of a mortal man. That the Lord may give the 
victory into our hands, that we may annihilate their 
power and lift on high the standard of truth." 

In the morning, with the clash of arms, the army of 
the Persians was advancing. No time could be lost ; 
the decisive battle was soon on ! After partaking of 
the Holy Communion, the Armenians marched on with 
brave hearts and with these words on their lips : 
" May our death be like the death of the just, and may 
the shedding of our blood resemble the blood-shedding 
of the prophets ! May God look in mercy on our 
voluntary self-offering, and may he not deliver the 
Church into the hands of the heathen !" The battle 
raged ' furiously. Never fought men with greater 




LEGENDARY PORTRAIT OF VARTAN MAMIGONIAN. 



THE ARMENIAN CHURCH. 115 

heroism. Though few in number, and though their 
noble commander was first among the slain, the courage 
of the determined heroes of the Cross increased until 
they shook the Persian throne to its foundation ; and 
the Persian monarch, retreating in confusion, sought 
compromise, granting religious liberty. This was the 
last of Zoroastrianism, and from this blow it never 
recovered. 

SEPARATION FROM THE CATHOLIC CHURCH. 

It was these persecutions which we have just de- 
scribed that prevented Armenia's representation in the 
fourth Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon, at which 
Eutyches was condemned for his heresy relating to the 
person of Christ. Our Church reserved its decision, 
and was generally supposed to have indorsed the her- 
esy ; but this was by no means the case. Owing to 
the poverty of our languages in theological terms, we 
had at that time but one word for "nature" and 
"person"; consequently the declaration of the council 
that Christ possessed two natures in one person was 
unintelligible to the Armenian Church. They had no 
language in which to express it. In 451, therefore, this 
doctrine was formally annulled by our patriarch in 
full synod, an act which resulted in the separation of 
the Armenian from the Greek and Roman churches, 
Documentary evidence is not wanting to show that the 
Armenian Church was essentially orthodox at that time 
and has ever been so. Her indifference to theological 
discussion and her traditional reverence for antiquity, 
coupled with a rooted aversion to rationalism and 
skepticism, have preserved this Church from the con- 



Il6 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

fusion in which theological controversy has involved all 
the Eastern churches. These facts are not generally 
recognized by European and American historians, who 
have too often relied on bigoted Latin and Greek 
sources for their information. It was the attitude of 
the Armenian Church in standing aloof from the 
indorsement of the Council of Chalcedon which 
secured its independence and prevented it from being 
absorbed into the Greek and Roman hierarchies. 



RELATIONS TO ROME. 

For many centuries the Church suffered the meddle- 
some interference of the Pope at Rome, who tried to 
place it in subordination to the papal power. Many 
apostatized to Rome (notably since the Council of 
Florence, 1439 A - D -)> perhaps in the hope of better 
protection from a stronger and more dominant organi- 
zation. The superior schools of the Jesuits also 
undoubtedly attracted a large number from the national 
Church. Nor is this all. Much of the superstition of 
the Greek Church has crept in and has exerted a 
pernicious influence on the national religion, robbing 
it of its pristine purity and simplicity. In the twelfth 
century Merses Lambronasses, a celebrated Armenian 
orator, in a masterly speech, advocated the union of the 
two churches. The laity and clergy, however, unani- 
mously rejected the idea, feeling that it threatened 
their independence. Moreover, the doctrines and 
usages of the two churches differ widely in many par- 
ticulars. In particular it should be observed that, while 
the Armenian Church claims to be orthodox, it does 



Il8 THE TURK AND THE LAND OP HAIG. 

not claim to be the only orthodox church, and does not 
deny communion to the members of the Greek and 
Roman churches. The Armenian Church is liberal, 
while the Greek is exclusive in the extreme. 

Whether owning allegiance to Rome, a convert to 
the evangelical missions, or yet within the fold of the 
native Church, the Armenian Christian still esteems 
Etchmiadzin the most sacred shrine of national adora- 
tion. Most ancient of monastic foundations, and the 
patriarchal throne of Armenia throughout all Christian 
ages, there is no shrine so interwoven with Armenia's 
national memories. Here is the first St. Gregory's 
church, traditionally founded on a spot where Christ 
descended (as its name implies, etch meaning "descent," 
and miadzin "only-begotten"). The Armenians believe 
that this famous shrine, at the foot of Mt. Ararat, 
stands on the site of the first Armenian church 
of Thaddeus the Apostle, which was erected a. d. 
40. They also believe that Thaddeus was martyred 
on a stone near by, and that his bones were sub- 
sequently removed and buried in the present build- 
ing, which was erected in a. d. 650. It is cuneiform 
in shape and of colossal size, and is made of blocks of 
hewn stone. Its erection consumed twenty years, and 
new parts have since been added at different times. 
Above the entrance are figures of the twelve Apostles 
and seven deacons in bas-relief, surrounded by angels 
and cherubim. Its interior is elaborately decorated 
with the ornaments usual in Armenian places of wor- 
ship and with inscriptions and many memorial tablets 
of ancient date. 



THE ARMENIAN CHURCH. II9 

THE CATHOLICOS. 

The organization of the Armenian Church is rep- 
resentative. Of all the clerical officers of the Church 
the Catholicos ranks highest, the Catholicos at Etch- 
miadzin being supreme. The present Catholicos is Rt. 
Rev. Migrditch Khirimian. This great and venerable 
man of God, who sits to-day upon the patriarchal 
throne of St. Gregory the Illuminator, is held in the 
same esteem by the Armenians throughout the world 
as Gladstone by the English and the Christian world 
at large. He is universally known among our people 
as Hairig — dear little father. Born at Van in 1820, 
and educated at the monasteries of Lim and Gdootz 
upon the islands of Lake Van, his early life was devoted 
to educational and literary pursuits. In 1854, having 
taken holy orders, he was appointed superior of Varak 
Monastery near Van, where he founded a school and 
set up a printing press — the first, and indeed the last, 
in that extensive domain. He established a monthly 
review, a library, and a museum. In i860, after having 
traveled in Caucasus two years, he was made a 
superior in the historic monastery of St. Garabed of 
Moush. There, too, his extraordinary talents found 
ample scope in making the sadly neglected and dark- 
ened interior of Armenia a center of light and culture. 
In 1868 he was consecrated bishop, and the following 
year he was elected Patriarch of Constantinople, to the 
enthusiastic satisfaction of the Armenians. 

From the very beginning of his activities, his stanch 
patriotism had made him persona non grata to the 
Turkish government. Soon after his installation, upon 



120 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

the first audience with the Sultan, he so ardently and 
boldly championed the cause of his oppressed flock that 
he had to resign his office in 1873. Although retiring 
from the patriarchate, he did not relinquish his patri- 
otism. In 1878, at the head of the Armenian deputa- 
tion, he pleaded the cause of his oppressed fellow-Chris- 
tians at the Berlin Congress ; and, as a result, the 61st 
article, a clause looking to the amelioration of the exist- 
ing condition, was inserted. In the following year we 
find this saintly man in the district of Van, saving people 
of all creeds and races from a destructive famine. In 
1885, while he was engaged in Armenia in educational 
work and other enterprises tending to the general wel- 
fare of his beloved countrymen, the Sultan became 
greatly alarmed at his influence and summoned him to 
Constantinople. While there repeated attempts upon 
his life were made by the Turkish government, and he 
was finally banished to Jerusalem, where he was 
shadowed by the government detectives. On May 
17, 1892, to the entire satisfaction of the Armenians 
everywhere, the noble Hairig was unanimously 
elected as the Supreme Patriarch and CathoKcos of all 
the Armenians ; and :;pon Czar Alexander's sanction of 
the election he was ..aken from his exile to Etchmiad- 
zin, and there in the cathedral, with all the pomp and 
ritual of this ancient Church, he was invested with the 
mantle of St. Gregory the Illuminator and Nerses the 
Great. 

The author, when in Constantinople in 1889, had 
the rare privilege of an extended interview with this 
highest dignitary of the Armenian church and people. 
He was conducted by the attending clergy of His 




RIGHT REV. MIGRDITCH KHIRIMIAN, THE ARMENIAN CATHOLICOS. 



122 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

Grace into the presence of a man bowed with years and 
honors, clothed in the usual black gown, with a strong 
and resolute face, a flowing beard, and a forehead indic- 
ative of clear and spontaneous thought. This person- 
age was none other than Khirimian Hairig, by whom the 
author was cordially received; and the memory of his pa- 
ternal advice and apostolic blessing will ever linger in his 
mind as a rare inspiration. When about to depart, the 
venerable man presented his young countryman with 
"The Pearl of the Kingdom of Heaven," "The Dis- 
course on the Cross," " Sirac and Samuel," and " The 
Family of Paradise," original autograph volumes of 
fervent Christian sentiments which are held as priceless 
additions to his library. 

The executive authority of the Catholicos may be 
compared to that of the Pope, as he has entire super- 
vision of the general interests and work of the Church 
throughout the world. His authority, however, is 
burdened with no dogma of infallibility. After being 
elected by all the archbishops, he must be confirmed 
by the Czar of Russia, who guarantees his protection 
and enforces his decrees. This custom had its origin 
in 1750, when in the face of persecution our Patriarch 
appealed to the Czar, and since then our Church has 
been in a partial sense sheltered by the Russian Church, 
though not in communion with it. This custom was 
re-enforced in 1828, when a large portion of Armenia 
was ceded to Russia, the site of Etchmiadzin itself be- 
coming a part of the Czar's dominions. 



THE ARMENIAN CHURCH. 123 

ECCLESIASTICAL ORGANIZATION. 

There is also a Catholicos at Sis, in the ancient prov- 
ince of Cicilia, and one at Akhtamar, upon the island 
of Lake Van ; and two Patriarchs, one at Constantino- 
ple and one at Jerusalem. The Armenian Patriar- 
chate at Constantinople was first established in 1461 by 
Sultan Mohammed II., who, having captured the city, 
invited Bishop Hovagnem of Brusa to the office. The 
function of the Patriarch at Constantinople is more of 
a political nature, representing the Armenian nation 
and Church to the authorities. Ecclesiastically, he holds 
the rank of a bishop, being chosen from a body of one 
hundred and forty members of the National Assembly, 
which sits at Constantinople ; but his election must be 
confirmed by the Sultan of Turkey. Next in order are 
the archbishops and bishops, who are elected to their 
office by the entire nation and ordained by the Cathol- 
icos at Etchmiadzin. Formerly it was the custom 
to ordain these officers at Caesarea or Sis, but in the 
patriarchate of Nerses the Great, who lived 363 a. d., 
the present practice was inaugurated. 

After his ordination a bishop retires to a room in 
the church for a season of fasting and prayer. During 
this time he studies the ritual and forms of the Church, 
and at its conclusion is invested with the power of absolu- 
tion. The bishops are more highly educated than the 
priests, being elected from an order known as Var- 
tabets, or doctors of theology. Indeed the Vartabets 
represent the highest culture of the nation, and to them 
it is indebted for most of its literature. 

The priest, or derder, is chosen by the people from 



124 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

among themselves. As a rule he is a venerable man 
with a long beard. Celibacy is not compulsory, but a 
priest cannot rise higher than his order while his wife is 
living. He performs the marriage ceremony, adminis- 
ters baptism, officiates at funerals, takes charge of the 
morning services, and looks after the general spiritual 
welfare of the local church. He receives no salary, 
but depends on contributions for his support. The 
Armenian monks are of the order of St. Basil, and live 
after a much severer rule than those of the Greek 
Church. 

The Armenian Church is apostolic in its teachings, 
orthodox in its form, episcopal and liberal in its 
nature. In theology it is Augustinian, adopting the 
Apostolic, the Nicene and the Athanasian creeds. 
Both in its doctrinal and ceremonial aspects it has 
more affinity now to the high Anglican Church than to 
any other branch of Christianity. It embraces the 
doctrine of the Trinity, and believes in the incarnated 
divinity of Christ, separated but blended in perfect 
harmony in an unapproachable life. It declares that 
the Holy Spirit is an essence emanating from God, and 
that it is the source of union between man and God. 
It believes in the adoration and mediation of saints, 
but not in the purgatorial penance, though prayer and 
entreaties are offered for the pardon of departed souls, 
Contrary to the Greek and Roman churches, it places 
the Bible in the hands of the people, believing in the 
potency of the inspired Word for the conviction and 
salvation of souls. The worship of the Church is litur- 
gical ; its liturgy, though ancient and extensive, is yet 
most beautiful in style and devout in religious senti- 



THE ARMENIAN CHURCH. 125 

ment. Every morning at sunrise, and every evening at 
sunset, the people assemble in the churches, at which 
time the Scriptures are chanted or read, the sermon be- 
ing usually preached on Sundays. The ceremonies are 
always performed in the ancient or classical Armenian, 
and it is not uncommon for the people to go home 
before or even during the preaching, because of the 
lengthy liturgy. The sign of the cross is used at 
all services. The adoration of pictures of saints and 
of the cross is believed to be of special efficacy. 

There are seven sacraments — baptism, confirmation, 
the eucharist, penance, ordination, marriage, and ex- 
treme unction. The Armenian Church practices a 
triple immersion of infants, and teaches that by it origi- 
nal sin is washed away, , while actual sin requires 
auricular confession and penance. Confirmation is ad- 
ministered immediately after baptism, the child being 
anointed with holy oil. The doctrine of transub- 
stantiation is regarded as extremely important, un- 
leavened bread dipped in wine being used in the 
sacrament. Penance consists in fasting, which occurs 
every Wednesday and Friday, and also in abstaining 
from eggs and meat of all kinds. Confession consti- 
tutes a necessary preparation for participation in the 
sacrament of the Lord's Supper. Extreme unction is 
administered only to the ecclesiastics. There are also 
many sacred holidays, among which is Christmas, cele- 
brated on the 1 8th of January ; Epiphany on the 6th. 

Persecuted by the relentless Saracen, and by the still 
more murderous Mongol, Tartar, and Turk, Armenians 
have always held their ground patiently and heroically^ 



126 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

and songs of hallelujah they have sung above all strife 
and conflict. Not with internal controversies, but with 
the red blood of martyrdom, have they maintained their 
religion. The historian Gibbon has well said : " Under 
the rod of oppression the zeal of the Armenians is fer- 
vent and intrepid. They have often preferred the 
crown of martyrdom to the white turban of Mahomet." 
During the wild storm of massacres that swept over 
the Armenians from the valley of the Euphrates to the 
city of Byzantium, many of them had the choice of death 
or a denial of Christ; and, infused with a fortitude from 
Heaven, they unhesitatingly chose death. " We cannot 
deny our Jesus," they said, and the Moslem bayonets 
pierced them to the heart. Indeed, the countless hosts 
that thus died the death of hero-martyrs, with the name 
of the Saviour on their lips, bear an eloquent testimony 
to the truth that even in this age of materialism 
and skepticism there are those who "have kept the 
faith." 

Tangible good has resulted from these long centu- 
ries of persecution ; and particularly has the present 
crisis drawn our people more closely together, and 
developed in the faithful an ironclad Christian charac- 
ter which successfully withstands the sensual allurements 
of Islamism. Thus the Armenian Church has served a 
double mission, not only teaching religion to the peo- 
ple, but acting as the conservator of the national spirit 
and unity. Patriotism and a common religion are two 
important uniting forces of a nation, and of the two 
religion has proved far more potent in its preserving 
power, for it is largely due to its influence that the 
Armenians, even under the Turkish yoke, still preserve 






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EARLY MONASTERIES AND CHURCHES OF ARMENIA. 



128 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

their national peculiarities, and are independent in 
spirit, if not in fact. 

That Church has for its corner-stone Christ Jesus, 
and rests on the firm foundation of the inspired revela- 
tion. Indeed, to the truth has been added some super- 
stition, and the religion once so full of spirit and 
devotion has somewhat lapsed into formalism ; and yet 
one cannot but admire the heroism with which our peo- 
ple have contended for their religion and Church. Ar-» 
menia ever upholds her torch, which emits its gracious 
light. The voice of the Apostles, here heard so long 
ago, has never ceased to inspire our people, and the fire 
kindled in our souls has never sunk to ashes. 

In Armenia the Bible is and always has been in the 
hands of the people, and our customs and life are per- 
meated with its leavening principles. Thus the obsta- 
cles with which foreign missionaries usually have had 
to contend are not found here. Armenia is des- 
tined to a great awakening. Christian missions have 
flourished and increased here as in no other land. 

In conclusion we may well ask: Has the Western 
World at any time equaled Armenia in its religious 
loyalty? Does not Occidental Christendom, which 
to-day enjoys the peace, love, and cordial fellowship of 
Christianity, owe something to the Oriental pioneer 
who " fought to win the prize, and sailed through 
bloody seas " ? Let hands be clasped across the wide 
ocean that separates us ; and let Christendom hearken 
once more to the cry that comes in the night : " Come 
over and help us." 



THE EVANGELICAL CHURCH. 



" Nearly everything which has been done for these ancient 
seats of Christianity by modern Christian nations has been done 
by American missionaries, whose schools and colleges, planted in 
various parts of western Asia, have rekindled the flame of knowl- 
edge, and stimulated the native Eastern churches to resume the 
intellectual activity which once distinguished them." — James 
Bryce. 



T 



HE labor of evano-elization among- the Armenians 
has been in its nature fundamentally different 
from that of most other mission countries. 

No heathen idolatry was here with which to contend. 
No wooden gods and massive temples built by super- 
stition were to be torn down before Christianity could 
be introduced and a true God preached. The people 
already worshiped the God of the Christian ; the 
spiritual kingdom needed not a revolution so much as 
a reformation, and it is with complacency that Armenia 
can point to one of her own sons as the instigator and 
founder of the reform movement. We refer to a 
native priest living near Constantinople, who in the 
year 1760 put forth a manuscript copy of a book whose 
every page breathed the spirit of dissatisfaction with 
the existing state of religious life. Besides speaking 
in commendatory terms of the great reformer Martin 
Luther, it pointed out many errors into which the 
Church had gradually fallen, and urged that a reform 
of some sort was eminently necessary. 

129 



I30 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

This book, for some reason never printed, wielded 
a salutary influence in the minds of the people, espe- 
cially among the higher clergy, many of whom were 
inspired by it to more or less effective action. 

One of the indications of the spiritual lethargy of 
the times was the extreme rarity of Bibles ; and here we 
take occasion to say that no true and active Christian life 
is possible without some communion with that stimulus 
of the soul's higher existence, the Word of God. It 
was a most healthful sign when an urgent want began 
to be expressed for more copies of the sacred Book, 
and it was also a very encouraging expression of the 
pulse of Christendom when the British and Russian 
Bible societies, at about the same time, proffered their 
help in the field white unto harvest. As an outcome 
of the self-sacrificing interest of these two organiza- 
tions, in the years 1813, 1815, 1817, and 1823 about 
twenty thousand copies of the Scriptures were pub- 
lished in our language. The Armenians will ever 
gratefully remember this timely service. It was soon 
perceived, however, that much more good would be 
accomplished were the translations made in modern 
Armenian rather than in the ancient tongue. The 
latter the common people were not able to read, and 
most of the copies published fell, of necessity, into the 
hands of priests and monks. The modern Armenian 
is understood by educated and uneducated alike, and 
the Bible societies referred to did a very wise thing 
in putting forth another version adapted to the needs 
of both clergymen and laity, both poor and rich. 

The pioneer work in any mission country is the 
placing in the hands of its people the Word in their 



THE EVANGELICAL CHURCH. I31 

own language. It is the foundation for the future 
edifice, the sowing for the future harvest ; and the dis- 
tribution of the Scriptures at this time was not without 
its significant fruit in later years, for it has not only 
produced a higher morality, not merely been the 
means of spiritual life, but it has also given impetus to 
mental activity. 

We now come to that which is most interesting to 
those who probably comprise the majority of the 
readers of this book — the work of the American 
Board of Foreign Missions. Missionary Levi Parsons 
met at Jerusalem, in 1821, several Armenians who, 
according to a custom still in vogue, were on a pil- 
grimage thither. Becoming interested in them, he 
proposed the establishment of a mission. They were 
all pleased with the idea and declared their country- 
men would be glad to have one established. 

The movement began in Constantinople, and thence 
gradually it extended to Smyrna, Brusa, Trebizond, 
Erzrum, Aintab, Marsovan, and so on throughout the 
Turkish Empire. Constantinople, a description of 
which will be found in a chapter devoted exclusively 
to that subject, has over eight hundred thousand 
inhabitants. The majority are Turks, but the Arme- 
nians are next in number, there being over two hun- 
dred thousand of our people. In 183 1, when Rev. 
William Goodell, D. D., was called from Malta, where 
he engaged in missionary work, to this city, about one 
hundred thousand Armenians were there, offering a 
very attractive field for effort. This was in June, 
1 831; but scarcely had he established himself in Pera, 
one of the suburbs of the city, when a destructive fire 



132 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

necessitated the removal of the mission to a town 
some few miles, up the Bosphorus. Although thus 
meeting with adversity, the original purpose of the 
mission was not allowed to suffer, and in the following 
year we again find Rev. William Goodell in Constanti- 
nople, this time accompanied by two more efficient 
workers, Revs. G. O. Dwight and William G. 
Schauffier, both Americans. These throe men of God 
were welcomed very cordially by the Patriarch, and 
suffered no inconvenience that could be prevented. 
It indeed seemed as though the mission were blessed 
of God. We will see later on how the Patriarch main- 
tained his first attitude. 

In our chapter on the Armenian Church we have 
described at length its services and forms of worship. 
It was the policy of the missionaries, from the inau- 
guration of their work, to leave severely alone the outer 
bulwarks of the Church, for this would only have 
instigated intense opposition from all quarters. It 
was thought best to transform first the spiritual, and 
that being changed, the outer manifestation in material 
forms and ceremonies would be done away with as 
a logical result. 

That this method was a success was soon seen, and 
the first fruits of labor were very encouraging. The 
first year Rev. Dr. Goodell, during a visit, was the means 
of converting two priests. It is interesting to note 
that six years afterward, when visiting the same place, 
sixteen were found who were believed to be earnest 
converts. In Brusa, too, where a mission had been 
established, the work was progressing finely. The 
first converts meant much for the cause, for they were 



THE EVANGELICAL CHURCH. 1 33 

two young teachers in influential positions, having 
under their tutorship many young people. But, despite 
all hopes, this tranquillity was not destined to continue 
long, and opposition very soon began to molest the 
workers. At Trebizond and at Erzrum, two mission 
stations of the American Board, outrages were con- 
tinually perpetrated. 

The Patriarch, heretofore so kindly disposed to all 
mission enterprises, fearing that the movement meant 
an encroachment upon the National Church, declared 
himself in word and deed against it. In the year 1837 
patriarchal bulls were issued, threatening anathemas 
against all who should be found guilty of associating 
with missionaries or reading literature circulated by 
them. The Patriarch at Constantinople at that time 
was almost of papal power and influence. He ban- 
ished a number of Protestants from the capital, impris- 
oned many, and threatened to exile the missionaries, 
when the war between the Sultan and Mohammed Ali 
intervened, attracting the minds of the people to more 
serious problems. While we sadly lament this action 
of the Patriarch, we have no doubt as to his conscien- 
tiousness. He was, as he thought, protecting his 
people ; for since the State had fallen, the Church 
remained as the only bulwark of a distinctive nation- 
ality, and, if the past was to be taken into account, his 
fears were not ill-founded. Years before the Roman 
Church had materially weakened the Armenian Church 
by proselyting large numbers of her members. Was 
the present measure, then, injudicious ? We believe 
not. 

Let us consider, too, that conservatism is the dis- 



134 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

tinctive characteristic of all Oriental Christians. Ritu- 
alism, in vogue for ages, becomes sacred. It cannot be 
denied that for centuries the conservative ritualism of 
the Armenian Church was a bulwark of defense against 
Roman and Greek heresies. The severe animosity 
existing between the Eastern and Western churches is 
an apt illustration of the Armenian Church as well. 
During the siege of Constantinople by the Turks, the 
union of all Christians against Mohammed was desir- 
able, and to this end the papal legate was to confirm 
the reunion of Christendom at St. Sophia. Even at 
this critical moment the fiery protest rose, in unison 
with Patriarchal Gennadius, from all Grecian lips, 
" Give us the Sultan's turban rather than the Cardinal's 
hat." It is easy to imagine, if this was the feeling 
between cognate churches, what the feelings against 
a church which is altogether foreign and strange would 
be. Yet, aside from these considerations, the greatest 
cause of the Armenian Church's hostility to the 
evangelical movement was due to the Russian influ- 
ence, which was by far the dominant factor of the 
entire situation ; and it was, indeed under the influence 
of St. Petersburg alone that the Armenian Church 
became for a time a persecuting church. 

The nominally Christian Russia is the uncompromis- 
ing foe of religious liberty, and as such she used all meas- 
ures in her power to repress the incipient movement. 
The Russian minister at Constantinople was acting in 
a double capacity. When Rev. Dr. Cyrus Hamlin's 
Armenian teacher was about to be banished to Siberia 
for his affiliation with the evangelical movement, one 
of the pioneer American missionaries entered a pro- 



THE EVANGELICAL CHURCH. 135 

test. To this protest the Russian minister gave 
an emphatic answer in the following words, " I want 
you to understand that my master the Czar will never 
allow Protestantism to set foot in the Turkish Empire." 
In the recent agitation the Turkish crusade against 
the American missionaries was largely due to the 
pernicious influence of the despotic Czar. 

Things slowly came to a crisis ; the methods of 
persecution were many and diverse. Reports of the 
most absurd nature- were circulated everywhere and 
believed, until the whole Church, with but few 
exceptions, changed its front to the offensive. 
Although in the year 1843 tne Sultan, urged by the 
British minister, Sir Stratford Canning, and others, 
had ordered that no person in the empire should be 
persecuted for his religious opinions, anathemas and ex- 
communications were repeatedly issued and produced 
their dire effect upon the minds of the people. With 
excommunications came social degradation and dis- 
grace ; the accursed one was excluded from home 
and relatives, the bakers were forbidden to sell 
to him, and he was often confined in prison. The 
cruelties practiced upon the Christians in the three 
years following would take volumes to adequately 
relate. Many were the heroic souls, who, still inspired 
with zeal, remained steadfast through the storm of 
conflict. The culmination of it all was the formation 
in 1846 of the first Armenian Evangelical Church. 

However, before we enter into a detailed account of 
this movement, we propose to present a short account 
of a factor which all these years had exercised no little 
power as an auxiliary to the more strictly religious 



136 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

work. Missionaries soon discovered that if the pre- 
senting of Christianity were accompanied by educa- 
tional work, much more tangible good would be 
accomplished. Accordingly, from almost the very 
outset, schools were established at nearly every mission 
station ; thus the education of the intellect kept pace 
with the higher education of the heart. These are 
the handmaids of civilization. 

The school that probably had the most influence in 
this formative and unsettled epoch was that established 
at Constantinople in 1827. Indirectly the school had 
its origin in a farewell letter written by Jonas King, 
a manuscript copy of which was sent to some influ- 
ential Armenians in the capital. From this letter the 
conviction came that reformation was necessary, and 
the institution referred to was founded with an 
eminent and learned man, Peshtimaljian, at its head. 

We will not speak at length of the valuable services 
of this school of the mission ; suffice it to say that 
six years later fifteen of its graduates were ordained as 
priests, one of them, Der Kevork, being immediately 
placed at the head of another new school in the same 
city that had just been founded by the Armenians. 
Had it not been for the earnest work of the mission- 
aries, it is doubtful whether this school would have 
ever come into existence. 

The educational work increased in power and scope ; 
and in the following year, 1834, a high school was 
located at Pera. Its principal was a very consecrated 
young man by the name of Hohannes Sahakian, who 
a short time before had been a student at Constan- 
tinople. While there a New Testament had fallen 




REV. CYRUS HAMLIN, D. D., IX. D. 



138 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

into his hands, and as a result he became an earnest 
Christian and gave some highly valuable assistance in 
the work of translation at the mission. His companion 
Senakerim, a teacher in the palace of the Patriarch, 
was converted about the same time, and also labored 
in a school for children at one of the stations. 

But even the schools received their share of the 
general persecution, and as a result of the interference 
of the vicar of the Armenian Patriarch, the High 
School at Pera was compelled to stop its work. How- 
ever, the result was not wholly evil, for another was 
immediately started at Hasskevy by a rich banker, 
with Sahakian as superintendent and Der Kevork as 
one of its teachers. Although this school, with, an 
attendance of over six hundred, was recognized by the 
Armenian Synod and made a national institution, it 
was done away with the following year because of cer- 
tain threatenings made by a number of hostile bankers. 

The work at Smyrna was significant of a remarkable 
advance in a country where women were esteemed of 
little importance. Here a female seminary was opened 
and, owing to the urgent appeal of an influential 
citizen, not only repaid the former aid, but the mission 
soon became self-supporting. The influence of the 
school, with an attendance of about forty at the outset, 
cannot be estimated. 

Another important educational institution was the 
seminary at Bebek, a theological school, in which, 
besides a critical study of the Bible, were taught 
Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. 

As we mentioned before, it was not the object of the 
missionaries to attack the outworks of the National 



THE EVANGELICAL CHURCH. 1 39 

Church, nor to found a separate body. From the first 
they, along with the converted members, objected very 
seriously to being known by the designation " Prot- 
estants," or any other name that would appear as an 
indication of disunion. However, as persecution 
became more and more intense, it was apparent that 
something must be done; and when in 1846 an anath- 
ema was issued, formally excommunicating all who 
adhered to the new faith, nothing was left for the 
missionaries but to form a separate organization. 
Accordingly, in the following year a meeting was 
called at Constantinople, at which the missionaries were 
present, and, after the reading of a covenant to which 
all assented, the first Evangelical Armenian Church 
became a reality, with a due recognition by the Turk- 
ish government as a separate religious community. 
What was intended to be only missionary work in the 
efforts of re-establishing a purer Christianity in an his- 
toric Christian church thus resulted in the organiza- 
tion of a separate religious institution. To whatever 
causes we may attribute this division, they will not alter 
the fact that it was a sad and disadvantageous occur- 
rence. This body, at first numbering forty souls, of 
which three were women, was presided over by one of 
the former students of the Peshtimaljian school, a man 
entirely worthy of the trust. The initiatory thus be- 
ing taken, other churches were almost immediately 
organized in other parts of the country. In two years 
there was a very strong church at Aintab, which soon 
grew to a membership of two hundred and sixty-eight • 
and others at Trebizond, Erzrum, and Marsovan, which 
were among the first missionary stations, and also at 



140 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

Nicomedia and Adabazar. Although the aggregate 
membership at this time was not over a thousand, it 
meant much as a beginning. 

We must not neglect to speak here of one of the 
leading benefactors of the new movement, Sir Stratford 
Canning, through whose untiring efforts concession 
after concession was made until the Protestant com- 
munity enjoyed almost the same measure of tolerance 
as the National Church. 

In the treaty of Paris, with the voluntary assent of 
the Sultan, these rights were incorporated and religious 
liberty was thus more fully insured. Free schools were 
organized to the number of thirty-eight, and the work 
progressed and widened in territory until it was found 
necessary to divide the field of labor into the four 
divisions of the present time — the Western Turkey 
Mission, embracing territorially as its stations Constanti- 
nople, Nicomedia, Brusa, Smyrna, Marsovan, Csesarea > 
Sivas, and Trebizond ; the Central Turkey Mission, 
lying to the south of the Taurus Mountains and to the 
west of the Euphrates valley, with Aintab and Marash 
as its principal stations; the Eastern Turkey Mission, 
including what lies between these two fields and the 
Persian and Russian borders, with its stations at 
Erzrum, Harput, Mardin, Bitlis, and Van ; and, lastly, 
the latest mission in European Turkey. Originally 
the Central Mission, which was organized in 1856, was 
known as the Southern Mission, while the Eastern and 
Western, organized in i860, were one, with the name of 
Northern Mission. 

As the work progressed it was a source of great satis- 
faction to see native preachers gradually taking places 



142 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

as efficient pastors of the native congregations. They 
were rarely, if ever, compelled to call on the mission- 
aries for help, as nearly all the churches managed, by 
sacrifice on the part of both pastor and people, to be 
self-supporting from the beginning. Revivals became 
frequent and were the means of the conversion of 
many. In 1856 occurred a soul-stirring revival in 
Marsovan, my native city. The theological seminary 
at Bebek, not far from the capital, experienced a 
similar awakening, as also did Csesarea and numbers of 
smaller cities. 

Through the translations of Rev. Messrs. Riggs, 
Goodell, and Schauffler the work received a new 
impulse. The former, with the aid of an Armenian, 
put forth a translation of the Bible in Turko-Armenian, 
that is, the Turkish language written in Armenian. 
The latter performed a similar service for the Turks, 
his translations being in their own language, written in 
the sacred characters. 

Although these translations lent a wonderful impetus 
to the work, in 1874 it was deemed necessary to 
appoint a revision committee, who six years later put 
forth an excellent version, written in both the Armenian 
and Turkish letters. 

It would be useless in a short sketch of this kind to 
give a detailed account of the individual work of the 
missionaries, although we fain would do so. We must 
be satisfied with touching upon the more important 
events. We cannot pass, however, without some 
notice of associations and unions that came into being 
about this time as a result of the constantly increasing 
number of members of churches. 



THE EVANGELICAL CHURCH. 143 

Organization is necessary to systematic work, and in 
1857 the churches at Nicomedia, Adabazar, and Bardi- 
zasf, formed themselves into what was known as the 
Bithynian Association. 

A much larger and more important organization was 
the union of the Evangelical Armenian churches of 
Bithynia, now embracing twelve stations and churches. 
This was formed in 1864. The next year the Harput 
Evangelical Union came into existence — a union that 
did much in the promulgation of the Gospel among the 
Armenians living in the wild region of the Kurds, some 
little distance from Diarbekir. Other potent organiza- 
tions were the Central and Cilician unions, formed at a 
later date. The results of these various associations 
were essentially good. Besides putting the churches 
in closer contact and sympathy with one another they 
learned to rely more upon themselves, and calls for 
aid from foreign countries became more and more 
infrequent. 

Nor must it be supposed that the work of evangeliza- 
tion was confined to the Evangelical Church alone, for 
many members of the old National Church, who were 
essentially Protestants, effected needed reforms. One 
of their measures was the publication of a new prayer 
book, which, though never used to any extent, created 
much interest and comment. No less encouraging was 
the fact that in the dissemination of the Scriptures, 
numbers of copies of the New Testament were dis- 
posed of to Mohammedans, which, though undoubt- 
edly bought for mere curiosity, could not fail to have 
some influence for good. 

Within late years, although the growth of the Church 



144 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

has never been marvelous, its course cannot be said 
to have been entirely without disturbing- influences. 
Calamity came in the shape of a dire famine, which 
prevailed in all Asia Minor during- the years of 1874 
and 1875. At this time thousands wandered about the 
streets of Marsovan and other cities, begging- bread 
from door to door. A large number died from famine, 
while some gratefully received aid from the missionaries, 
at Csesarea and Marsovan. This kindness was not 
suffered to go unrewarded, for on account of it many 
opened their hearts to the words of the Gospel. We 
must especially speak in terms of praise of Rev. Mr. 
Farnsworth and Rev. C. C. Tracy, who did much to 
relieve the general suffering. 

Among institutions which are instrumental in the 
missionary work, the Bible House at Constantinople 
deserves special mention. Thousands of copies of the 
Scriptures are published here, in modern Armenian as 
well as in thirty other languages. They are quickly 
sold and read by people of various nationalities. 
Besides the Bible, this institution publishes books, 
tracts, and newspapers of a religious and educational 
character. While in Constantinople, it always afforded 
me great pleasure to visit this noble edifice and to 
enjoy the devotional services conducted there every 
Lord's Day. 

The progress and prosperity of educational work 
has been, and is, an inspiring fact. We have already 
alluded to its importance, and have mentioned some of 
the earliest schools. 

The Rev. Dr. Judson Smith, the secretary of the 
American Board, states that " Education has been a 



I46 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

marked feature of the work in these missions almost 
from the beginning, and nowhere else in the fields 
occupied by the board have we to-day so many institu- 
tions of a high grade so fully attended." For the 
great educator Rev. Dr. Cyrus Hamlin my country- 
men have a never-dying and the profoundest sense of 
gratitude. Aside from his educational enterprises, he 
has been in all his heroic exploits eminently successful. 

There are several higher educational institutions at 
my home, Marsovan, among them being Anatolia 
College, where I studied. There is also a ladies' semi- 
nary and a theological seminary of no little repute. 
My former teachers, Rev. C. C. Tracy, D. D., and 
Rev. Geo. F. Herrick, D. D., an eminent Oriental 
scholar, are the founders and constant inspiration of 
Anatolia College. We have spoken of the theological 
school at Bebek ; others of a similar nature were 
founded soon afterward in Marash ; there is Central 
Turkey Female College, and at Scutari the Armenian 
College for Girls ; while Harput is the location of 
Euphrates College. 

Aintab, where missionary work has been exception- 
ally prosperous, is the site of the College of Central 
Turkey. But the institution of which Armenians may 
feel most proud is the well-known Robert College, 
named after its financial founder, Christopher R. 
Robert of New York City. This college, located first 
in Bebek and afterward on the heights of Roumeli 
Hissar, is one of the best institutions of the kind in 
the world, being well-equipped with excellent pro- 
fessors and enjoying the patronage of nearly every 
nationality. It was established in 1863, through the 



148 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

influence of Rev. Dr. Cyrus Hamlin, an American who 
has since been its constant inspiration. Though not a 
missionary institution, yet the prosperity of Christian 
work among its students has equaled the highest 
expectations. 

Aside from these higher institutions, there are 
twenty-six high schools for boys ; nineteen boarding- 
schools, or seminaries, for girls, with about two thou- 
sand students ; and three hundred and fifty common 
schools, containing more than sixteen thousand pupils. 

The young men are taking increasing interest in the 
Church, and a number of Young Men's Christian 
Associations have been organized. By no means the 
least blessino- is the advancement of woman from her 
degradation to a plane of culture and refinement, 
chiefly owing to the liberality of the natives them- 
selves in the cause of female education. What a 
happy result, that the youth of both sexes share alike 
the opportunities of culture ! 

Prospects were never brighter. The number and 
rolls in the evanoelical churches are laroer than ever 
before, and the common-school system is one that 
promises great results in the advance of civilization. 

To this, the largest mission field of the American 
Board, 700 missionaries have been sent out at a cost 
exceeding the sum of $6,000,000. Its present prop- 
erty is worth $1,500,000; it has 176 missionaries now 
in the field, with 878 native trained ministers and 
assistants. The board has now 125 churches with 
about 13,000 members and 30,000 adherents, most of 
which number are Armenians. Indeed, for actual 
missionary work, our people have been selected as the 



THE EVANGELICAL CHURCH. 



149 



first fruits of missionary effort because of their ready 
appreciation of the Bible as the Word of God ; and 
to this very day the work of evangelization in the 
country has been restricted to Armenians, Greeks, and 




PRESIDENT C. C. TRACY AND STUDENTS OF ANATOLIA COLLEGE. 

others of ancient Christian churches, while the Turks 
and all other Mohammedan peoples have ever remained 
irresponsive and hostile to the light of the gospel. 
The missionaries from the very start discovered the 
impossibility of converting them to Christianity. 



150 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

Encouraged by their success among the Armenians 
and Greeks, the missionaries were ardently pursuing 
their work and laying plans for larger usefulness when 
the storm of Moslem hatred and fanaticism fell upon 
our land, devastating hamlet and town, city and 
province. In the afflicted provinces missionary work, 
as well as all business activity, was at a standstill ; and 
with gloomy apprehension for future labor the mis- 
sionaries stood at their posts and heroically continued 
their sacred work, hoping almost against hope for the 
return of peace and security. These noblest of 
America's sons and daughters acted in a double 
capacity : not only did they protect the Word, but at 
the same time, as a splendid illustration of true Chris- 
tianity, they reached out to succor the thousands of 
homeless and destitute Christians of our unhappy 
land. Herewith let me take occasion to express the 
everlasting thanks and the heart-felt gratitude of my 
countrymen for that noble company of Christians in 
the United States and England, whose hearts being 
touched by the terrible story of Armenia's woes, sent 
out material aid in the form of practical sympathy. 
Such relief has been administered to the best advan- 
tage through the American missionaries as well as 
through the agency of the American Red Cross Asso- 
ciation. The Red Cross organization, purely philan- 
thropic in its nature and purport, took the field with 
its efficient president, Miss Clara Barton, at the head 
of her corps of trained workers. That such a move- 
ment was not in accord with the Sultan's policy of 
Armenia's extermination was sufficiently apparent at 
the very outset. The Turkish government hampered 



THE EVANGELICAL CHURCH. 151 

and opposed it, and even went so far as to order the 
missionaries who were dispensing relief out of the 
country, with a threat that, should they fail to with- 
draw within three days, serious consequences would 
follow. Indeed, the European missionaries, in compli- 
ance with such demands, abandoned the relief work, 
while the American missionaries held their ground. 
Meanwhile this mandate of the Turkish government 
was so vigorously and firmly opposed by the Euro- 
pean powers that the Sultan was obliged promptly to 
change his attitude upon the subject, and even decided 
to send troops for the protection of the missionaries. 
Such an unlooked-for act of the Porte is indeed an en- 
tire corroboration of Mr. Gladstone's terse declaration, 
" The Turk gives heed to nothing but an ultimatum." 
Nevertheless, in the recent general destruction of life 
and property, this momentous movement of long 
prestige, and so largely carried on among the 
Armenians, has sustained an almost crushing blow at 
the hands of the Turk. In the whirlwind of butchery 
and pillage nearly all the mission stations, from the 
valley of the Euphrates to the Mediterranean, have 
shared the general calamity of Moslem violence and 
destruction. True no American missionary has been 
killed, but many of them have suffered the loss of all 
their property, have seen their students, converts, and 
servants slain before their eyes, their flag insulted and 
trailed in the dust, and they themselves have been 
compelled to seek a place of shelter. In Harput alone 
eight of the twelve American buildings within the 
inclosure were looted and burned, the loss being esti- 
mated at one hundred thousand dollars. Many of the 



152 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

occupants were killed, and the missionaries barely 
escaped with their lives. It must not be supposed 
that this was simply the attack of a mob ; for Turkish 
mobs are not equipped with artillery. The Harput 
institution of missionaries was assailed by Turkish 
soldiers, who trained their field pieces upon the build- 
ings. Such deliberately planned official havoc is more 
inexcusable when we remember that the Sultan had 
given specific assurances to the United States that the 
lives and property of the missionaries should be pro- 
tected. As yet not a word of apology nor a cent of 
indemnity has been exacted from the Turkish govern- 
ment. The truth of the matter is that of all the civi- 
lized nations the United States has proved the most 
inactive in protecting the natural rights of its citizens 
in the Ottoman Empire. On this point Dr. Grace N. 
Kimball, who has labored for the. past few years as a 
missionary among the Armenian refugees, makes this 
assertion, " Even the American flag was powerless to 
shield us ; and had it not been for the protection of 
British consuls, we would have suffered the same fate 
as the Armenians." That the missionaries have 
vested rights, property guarantees of protection dating 
back to 1830, and a generation of work behind the 
present, no one will deny; yet it is sufficiently evi- 
dent that American citizens in Turkey have not been 
protected nor their wrongs redressed. 

In the midst of this violence and treachery the late 
American minister to Constantinople, Mr. Alexander 
Terrell of Texas, cut a pitiable and shocking- 
figure. His diplomatic incompetence and ignorance 
of the Eastern situation on the one hand, and his 



154 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

weak, faltering, and pusillanimous policy toward the 
Sultan on the other, made him a most unfit man 
for such a responsible post at such a critical time. 
Brave and true as I hold America to be, she should 
make her " Stars and Stripes " a protection to her 
people, her best people — the benefactors of my race and, . 
indeed, of humanity. In such a crisis both principle, 
and prudence demand a bold and unflinching course of 
action. That the Sultan has ever proved a persistent 
and cruel violator of all his treaty obligations should 
satisfy common sense that further promises would not be 
worth the breath that uttered them. He will not yield 
to reason or entreaty, but he has yielded and will yield 
to the argument of force. The only sort of argument 
for which the grim tyrant of the Bosphorus has any 
respect is that of ironclads and cannon. After the 
massacres of Syrian Christians by the Turks in i860, 
the French citizens having suffered, the French govern- 
ment dispatched a corps of ten thousand men to Syria ; 
and as a result redress was obtained at once. Sixty of 
the ringleaders were put to death, and the memory of 
such intervention has given security to Syria and to 
French citizens ever since. Unless the United States 
rises above its present lukewarmness and inefficiency in 
defending its citizens and their interests at the cannon's 
mouth, as the French did after the massacre in i860, 
further and worse outrages will be the result. 

For many years Algerian pirates preyed on the com- 
merce of Christian nations in the Mediterranean Sea, 
and the powers of Europe dared not to raise their arms 
againstthem, when in 1815 this young America arose 
and dealt them such a blow that no more robbers could 



THE EVANGELICAL CHURCH. 1 55 

be seen on the Mediterranean. Would that the old 
fire of heroism were rekindled to-day in the American 
breast ! I doubt not that, should the United States 
rise against the Turk, there would not be a nation in 
Europe but would welcome its intervention as the 
least dangerous solution of the Turkish question ; for 
this country has no territory to acquire, no balance of 
power in Europe to break, no prestige to win. 



SOCIAL AND HOME LIFE. 



" Home of my childhood! how affection clings 
And hovers round thee with her seraph wings! 
Dearer thy hills, though clad in autumn brown, 
Than fairest summits which the cedars crown." 

— Oliver Wendell Holmes. 

AS I turn to this chapter the remembrances of my 
**■ Oriental home rise before me, hallowed and 
strengthened by time and absence. Over its shadows 
and sunshine are thrown gleams of mellow light that 
bear my lonely soul on the wings of emotion to the 
far-away land that rocked my cradle. What days of 
sparkling mirth ! what days of saddening gloom 1 Yet 
to my longing heart the sunshine and shadows of home 
are merged in a heavenly radiance. 

To you, my reader, I now extend an invitation to 
walk with me among the scenes of my boyhood. Our 
people are deeply interested in your bright country and 
people, and I am sure in turn you would find much 
to interest you in the manners and customs of our old 
and romantic land. Our culture and manners, perhaps 
not always of the highest, are always clean and respect- 
able ; our heroism, true ; our beliefs, sincere ; and our 
faults are not crimes, but delusions. Were our country 
and people free from the iron grasp of Turkish aliens, 
brighter homes and more speedy progress would be 
ours. And yet, strange as it may seem, the power of 

156 




AN ARMENIAN FAMILY — RELATIVES OF THE AUTHOR. 




ARMENIAN CHILDREN. 



158 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

tyranny, with all its stagnation and blight, has prac- 
tically exerted no influence in marring the holiness of 
family ties. It is certainly a lasting tribute to the 
character of the Armenians that, after five centuries of 
subjection, no social intercourse or intermarriage has 
been effected with the Turk. 

Let us journey, then, through the land of Asia 
Minor, where the homes of these two peoples, though 
standing side by side, nevertheless present the widest 
contrasts in their inner life. 

As the morning light first touches the mountain 
tops, so our glimpses of home life begin with the 
higher classes. But whether high or low, all have to 
pass through the same filthy, zigzag streets that run 
from everywhere to nowhere. So thronged are they 
with dogs, horses, donkeys, and sometimes with long 
trains of supercilious camels and buffalo arabas, that 
you have to challenge everything and elbow every 
being for the right of way. Above all, a lively time is 
expected with the famous Turkish dogs when they are 
contending for a bone. Fortunately, in the portions of 
the country where the Armenians and Europeans 
dwell they have somewhat disappeared from the 
streets. Those you meet are quite respectful to Mo- 
hammedan and Christian alike ; while the old breed 
would howl at a Christian, but remain quiet when a 
Turk passed by. Even the dogs are getting civilized, 
which is more than can be said of the bipeds of the 
slums. 

Of the defunct dogs we may say the redcoats were 
their assassins, and loaded walking-sticks, used in the 
night, the weapons. One English sea-rover vowed he 




A CHARACTERISTIC STREET SCENE. 



l6o THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

would kill a dog every night when returning to ship 
from his games. He kept his word and more, for when 
unlucky at cards he would dispatch two or three curs in 
ambling down the hill. Dogs became rapidly scarce 
on his route. At length he took to the narrow side, 
streets, and one night a fellow friendly to dogs — of 
course a Turk — waylaid the Briton, and with some 
assistance sent him to his berth a battered specimen of 
humanity. 

Besides the dogs, it is characteristic of Turkish 
streets to be peopled here and there by a careless, lazy- 
looking set of vagabonds sunning themselves on the 
street corners. Next to tramps they are the most ab- 
solutely good-for-nothing nuisances on earth, without 
an excuse for their wandering existence except the fact 
that they were born. Their motto seems to be, " Grab 
and eat as much as you can, and whine." They do 
nothing but hang around anywhere and everywhere, all 
day and every day. Lucky for them if they can outdo 
some wandering dog in securing the most shaded corner 
where they may stretch their lazy bones in peace. 
Fruit-sellers, Turkish grinders, and hammals, or porters, 
are also to be seen on every hand. 

It gives a strange effect to the street scene to see the 
houses and yards, like castles or picturesque fortifica- 
tions, surrounded by solid black walls, varying in height 
from ten to twenty-five feet, with a heavy gate before 
each house and an iron hammer suspended as a knocker 
from its center. Most of the residences are two-story 
houses, built of sun-dried brick around an open court- 
yard, and plastered within and without. There are few 
stone buildings and still fewer of wood. Most of the 



SOCIAL AND HOME LIFE. l6l 

houses have a balcony overlooking a tangled garden, 
with window ledges abloom with flowers. The roofs 
are tiled, and the numerous small windows are closely 
latticed on the outside with a network of iron bars 
arranged in pairs. As a rule, the residences are very 
close together, with a space between them of not more 
than six feet, so that a distant view of the dwellings 
makes them appear as though erected in a block. 

Entering the gate, and passing through the yard, we 
come to the house. In the courtyard, and in the rear 
of the building, there are generally gardens, with lofty 
trees surrounding the house and overshadowing it with 
their green branches. Sparkling fountains play in the 
rich sunshine amid flower beds, exquisite in variety 
and hue ; while the air is perfumed with roses and made 
melodious by the song of the nightingale. These gar- 
den spots are found in profusion in my birthplace, the 
city of Marsovan, and may be seen with no less fre- 
quency in most of the cities and villages. Indeed, the 
whole land is one of bloom and blossom. 

As we enter the house we meet with a most cordial 
reception from the household, for hospitality and 
kindness to strangers are the first law in the Orient, 
and are a most pleasing and characteristic feature of 
Armenian society. The kind words and the eager 
display of hospitality, each vying with the other in 
supplying your wants, form a striking scene to an 
American. Indeed, our people are the most friendly 
of friends ; they enjoy life because they make other 
people enjoy it. Home is a philanthropic institution 
with them — so much so that some regret the introduc- 
tion of Western ideas in the founding of hospitals and 



l62 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

orphanages, since custom will not allow a stranger 
within the eates of an Armenian home to suffer from 
lack of food or shelter. He is given a seat at the table, 
and to sup with the master of the house means to lodge, 
with him and to be furnished with slippers and night- 
robes. The guest is expected to entertain all callers 
with some account of himself, his country, its laws, 
religion, manners, and customs. 

Interchange of visits among neighbors and friends is 
the rule, for the people love to congregate and greatly 
enjoy meeting together to smoke and talk over their 
affairs. In Christian homes men and women meet in 
the reception room ; but generally ladies, gentlemen, 
and children form separate groups and chat on general 
topics, which vary according to the social position and 
intelligence of the company. In a Turkish house there 
are two apartments, the haremlik and selamlik — the 
former the ladies' reception room and the latter for 
gentlemen. 

Holidays and long winter evenings are usually de- 
voted to a pleasant and ancient pastime, which is indeed 
one of the happiest features of Oriental life. The 
master of the house opens the door of the house and 
welcomes the guest with numerous expressive gestures 
of whole-hearted hospitality. In the immediate en- 
trance of the house there is a place where the etiquette 
of the country requires you to remove your shoes and 
put on slippers before entering the inner apartments ; 
but hats, like the bonnets of American ladies, are not 
necessarily taken off. After exchanging graceful salu- 
tations, formal civilities, and inquiries after each other's 
health, the guest is ushered into a cheery court and 



164 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

thence into a reception room, where coffee, the univer- 
sal beverage of the Levant, is served on a silver tray in 
tiny goblets like egg-cups. The square room which 
the company occupies is comfortably fitted and ar- 
ranged with a profusion of divans, embroidered cushions, 
and mattresses for sitting and reclining, and perhaps a 
few chairs. The floor is covered with rich Oriental 
ruo-s, while curtains and shawls of fine texture hanor 
about the sides and across the ceiling. In the center of 
the room is placed a stove or a charcoal brazier. The 
room is lighted with bright lamps, the old-fashioned 
tallow candle or olive-oil wick having been long aban- 
doned. The lady callers all cluster about the genial 
hostess, who sits by her babe singing, soft and low, the 
sweet, simple cradle song ; while the men may be en- 
gaged in a discussion of current events, though they 
often exchange remarks with the ladies. The little 
folks have a lively time by themselves in much the same 
kind of merry, innocent frolic that is the delight of 
American boys and girls. Oriental children, too, have 
their marbles, their skipping-rope, and little toy plows, 
into which cats and kittens are harnessed in play. Lit- 
tle girls with rosy faces are clustered with their dolls 
and kittens around the good old grandmother, who tells 
them riddles and amusing stories, while the white- 
bearded patriarch, bowed with years, begins to recount 
anecdotes of his bygone days. The remarks of the 
venerable man are always interesting, yet they reveal 
no progress in the lapse of time ; for the Oriental life 
and customs have been preserved with little change 
from a remote antiquity. The house servant is busied 
with such functions as arranging the shoes in pairs, that 



SOCIAL AND HOME LIFE. l6$ 

the guests may easily find them when departing. After 
games and conversation, the company indulge in ciga- 
rettes, coffee, sweetmeats, and the bubbling narghileh, 
or flexible rosewater pipe, a smoking apparatus very 
similar to the hookah of Hindostan, which is always 
filled with Shiraz tobacco. Time wears pleasantly on, 
and the guests are sure to depart late, nearly always 
with the satisfaction of having had an enjoyable 
time. 

A gathering like the one described is a preat time 
for story-telling. Many capital anecdotes are current 
among the people, and nearly all have a moral. Nasr- 
ed-din-Hodja, a teacher and notorious wag, who is the 
ideal hero or victim of many Munchausen-like tales, is 
supposed to live in Bagdad. Several stories concern- 
ing him are worth recording in English. For the 
translation of the following I am indebted to Hon. 
Samuel S. Cox, the late American Minister to Turkey : 

A belated beggar knocked at the Hodja's door. 

"What do you want?" he called down from an 
upper window. 

" Come down, good Hodja, and I will tell you," 
replied the mendicant. 

Having descended and opened the front door, the 
beggar asked for alms. 

" Come upstairs," said the Hodja, and the mendi- 
cant was taken to the top floor. 

" I am sorry, poor man," said the Hodja, " but I have 
no alms for you." 

"Why did you not tell me so at the door?" inquired 
the beggar angrily. 



l66 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

" Why did you not tell me what you wanted before 
I came down ?" retorted the Hodja. 

One day the Hodja was too lazy to preach his usual 
sermon at the mosque. He simply addressed himself 
to the congregation, saying : 

" Of course you know, O faithful Mussulmans, what 
I am going to say?" 

The congregation cried out with one voice : 

" No, Hodja, we do not know." 

" Then, if you do not know, I have nothing to say 
to you," replied the Hodja, and left the pulpit. 

Next time he again addressed his congregation, 
saying : 

" Know ye, O faithful Mussulmans, what I am going 
to say to you ? " 

Fearing that if, as on the previous time, they said 
" No," the Hodja would leave them again without 
a sermon, all cried : 

" Yes, Hodja, we do know." 

" Then, if you know what I am going to say,' 1 quietly 
remarked the Hodja, " of course, there is no need of 
my saying it," and he again stepped down from the 
pulpit, to the consternation of the congregation. 

A third time, the Hodja again put his question : 

" Know ye, O faithful Mussulmans, what I am going 
to preach to you ? " 

The congregation, determined not to be disappointed 
again, took counsel on the question. Accordingly 
some of them replied, " No, Hodja, we do not know," 
while others cried, " Yes, Hodja, we do know." 

"Very well, then," said the Hodja, "as there are 



l68 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

some of you who do know, and others who do not know 
what I am going to say, let those who do know tell it 
to those who do not know," and quickly left the pulpit. 

" O Hodja ! when will the end of the world come ? " 

"Ask me something difficult; that is quite easy to 

answer," is the calm reply. " When my wife dies it 

will be the end of half the world ; when I die it will 

be the end of the whole world." 

The Hodja borrows from a friend a large copper 
vessel in which to do his washing. A few days after- 
ward the vessel is returned clean, washed and polished. 
Inside of it is another, but much smaller, copper vessel. 

"What is this, Hodja?" asks his friend. "I lend 
you one vessel and you bring me back two ! " 

"It is very curious," says the Hodja. "It appears 
that your vessel, while in my possession, must have 
given birth to a baby vessel. Of course both belong 
equally to you." 

"Oh, thank you, good Hodja," says the man, laugh- 
ing^ and without more parley agrees to take back both 
vessels. 

Some time after this the Hodja again applies for 
the loan of the large vessel — " the mother vessel," as 
he describes it. The demand is readily granted. Be- 
fore leaving, the Hodja inquires for the health of the 
" baby vessel." He expresses pleasure at hearing that 
it is doing extremely well. 

A week, then a month, elapses, but no Hodja appears 
to return the borrowed vessel. The proprietor, at 
length losing patience, goes himself to obtain it. 



SOCIAL AND HOME LIFE. 169 

" Very sorry," says Hodja, " but your copper vessel 
is dead." 

" Dead, Hodja ! " cries the other in surprise ; " what 
do you mean ?" 

"Just what I say," replies the Hodja, "your vessel is 
dead." 

" Nonsense, Hodja !" says the man — irritated at the 
Hodja's quiet manner ; " how can a copper vessel 
die?" 

" Read up your natural history, my good friend," 
answers the imperturbable, puffing quietly at his long 
pipe, " and you will see that everything that gives 
birth to a child must inevitably succumb in due course 
to the fate of all mortals. You were willing enough 
to believe that your vessel had given birth to a 'baby 
vessel.' I do not see, therefore, why you should 
now doubt my word as to its being dead." 

One night, before retiring, the Hodja said to his wife : 
"If it rain to-morrow, I shall go to my field ; if it does 
not rain, I shall go to my vineyard." 

" Say ' If it please God,' Hodja," suggested his wife. 
" Whether it please God or not," replied the Hodja ; 
" I shall go to one or the other." 

" Hodja," said his wife, " say ' If it please God.'" 
" Nothing of the kind," said the Hodja ; " I shall go." 
Next day it was not raining, and the Hodja started 
to go to his vineyard. He did not go far, however, 
before he was stopped by the king's troopers, who com- 
pelled him to work all day in repairing the roads, and 
it was quite late at night when he was set free. By the 
time he had arrived at his house everyone was fast 



I70 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

asleep. His wife, putting her head out of the window, 
asked who it was. 

" Wife," replied the Hodja, "' if it please God, it is I." 

A friend calls on the Hodja to borrow his donkey. 

" Very sorry," says the Hodja, who does not want to 
lend the animal, "but the donkey is not here; I have 
let him out for the day." 

Unfortunately, just at that moment the donkey 
begins to bray loudly, thus giving the direct lie to the 
Hodja, 

" How is this, Hodja ?" says his friend. " You say 
the donkey is away, and here he is braying in the 
stable." 

The Hodja, nothing daunted, replies in a grave 
manner-: 

" My dear sir, please do not demean yourself so low 
as to believe the donkey rather than myself — a fellow- 
man and a venerable Hodja with a long gray beard." 

The Hodja used to teach in the parish school. He 
had taught his pupils that whenever he happened to 
sneeze they should all stand up and, clapping their 
hands together, cry out, " God grant you long life, 
Hodja!" 

This the pupils regularly did whenever the Hodja 
sneezed. 

One day the bucket gets loose and falls into the 
well of the schoolhouse. As the pupils are afraid 
to go down into the well to fetch up the bucket, the 
Hodja undertakes the task. He accordingly strips, and 
tying a rope to his waist, asks his pupils to lower him 



SOCIAL AND HOME LIFE. 171 

carefully into the well and pull him up again when he 
gives the sign .1. The Hodja goes down, and having 
caught the bucket, shouts to his pupils to pull him up 
again, but when they have drawn him nearly out of the 
well he suddenly sneezes. At this the pupils imme- 
diately let go the rope, begin to clap their hands to- 
gether, and shout down the well, " God grant you long 
life, Hodja!" 

In many Armenian homes pianos and organs are 
coming into use, but they are not as yet common. Our 
young men play the flute with exquisite expression. 
The old-fashioned bagpipe of the Orient is a peculiar 
instrument, the bag being of sheepskin, with a small 
mouthpiece, and the instrument being a combination 
of cowhorn and three reeds with hole's in them. The 
dulcimer is of Oriental origin, and has to some extent 
taken the place occupied by the pianoforte in an Amer- 
ican home. The music of the Orient is characterized 
by a plaintivenesss quite charming to the ear, which is 
due to the frequent use of the minor keys. 

Now comes our dinner time ! Will you not come 
with us, my reader, for it gives us peculiar delight to 
have Occidentals accompany us to the table. I assure 
you our Armenian cuisine is suited to Western palates, 
and our people well understand that a man's stomach 
is an easy avenue to his heart. First hands are washed, 
and then all are seated around the table, with brightly 
polished brazen plates, neatly folded napkins, and 
spoons of boxwood and tortoise shell by the side of 
each. Soup comes first ; then pilav, a dish resembling 



172 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

porridge ; then meat, cooked in various Oriental styles, 
similar in general to those of France, but lambs are 
roasted whole in Homeric fashion ; then olives, cheese, 
and fruit. Lastly come halwah, or sweetmeats from 
Smyrna and Scio. After coffee-sipping and chibouk- 
puffing the ceremony of eating comes to a close. 
Wines of the rarest vintage are to be found on the 
table during all the courses. 



SUPERSTITIONS. 

Among the low and ignorant, where popular educa- 
tion is of a meager sort, superstition has full sway — es- 
pecially among the Turks. Many of their beliefs are 
amusing to strangers, though Orientals believe in these 
absurdities as firmly as they do in religion. For 
instance, they deem it a serious matter to be the vic- 
tim of an evil eye, though fortunately a remedy has 
been invented for every emergency. Garlic and a word 
from the Koran are antidotes for the e;vil eye. Dog- 
bread is used as a charm, and blue beads on horses, 
donkeys, and buffaloes are charms against the malice of 
the envious and evil-eyed. That nothing must be 
wasted that can be used as food by clog or fish is a 
superstition tending to promote economy. You bring 
bad luck by entering a house with the right foot. The 
darkness is peopled by creatures of dim, unspeakable 
shapes from the regions of hell. For astrological cal- 
culations some days are unlucky, and even the Sultan 
himself will postpone an interview if it falls on an 
unlucky day. Sometimes a long-forgotten and lost 
grave of a saint suddenly becomes a reputed center of 



SOCIAL AND HOME LIFE. 173 

miracles. Someone will tell his neighbors that while 
crossing the grave of a certain saint his disease at once 
departed from him ; and although no one knew before 
whether the grave was that of a saint or a devil, or 
whether the originator of the report is worthy of con- 
fidence or not, the story goes with lightning speed, 
bringing throngs of the sick and infirm from the re- 
motest parts to the magic mound. 

When at home I scorned and laughed at such odd 
spectacles, with a sense of mingled contempt and pity, 
but since I have seen Americans throng about the for- 
tune-teller, I have had more charity for our Oriental 
credulity. 

EDUCATION. 

Compulsory education is unknown in Asia Minor. 
As a rule, the government renders no assistance to non- 
Mohammedan schools, so that each nationality has its 
own schools quite as distinct as its churches. Of the 
Armenian higher institutions and colleges we have 
spoken elsewhere. 

Mohammedanism teaches that secular education is 
subordinate to, and dependent upon, religious instruc- 
tion. Consequently, all the schools of early times were 
attached to mosques and under the direction of the 
Ulemas, or religious teachers. Education independent 
of religious instruction did not begin until 1846. Those 
who complete the course of study in the higher schools 
are granted a degree and given a mastership in a pri- 
mary school, but several years more of training are 
required of those who wish to be Ulemas and teach in 
the mosques. The most proficient students are trained 



SOCIAL AND HOME LIFE. 175 

in the legal profession, for much of Turkish law is 
founded on the Koran. The revenue for the support 
of this system of education is derived from the church 
lands of the empire. National schools are to be found 
in all the principal cities. In Constantinople, for in- 
stance, the Armenians alone have over fifty schools for 
both sexes, but many of the small villages have none. 

The Mohammedan boy's entrance into school, at the 
age of seven, is a festive occasion. The whole school 
goes to the home of the lad, who is placed on a richly 
caparisoned donkey ; then, formed in double-file pro- 
cession, they escort the young student to the school- 
house, singing songs. This is certainly a beautiful 
custom, and tends to impress on the minds of the 
young the importance of this new epoch in life. These 
Turkish common schools present a very singular scene 
to a stranger. The pupils are all seated cross-legged 
on the bare marble pavement in the porch of the 
mosque, formed in semicircular clusters around the 
hodja, or teacher. The kodja, as a rule, is an old man 
with a white beard, who holds in his hand an extremely 
long stick, which reaches to all parts of the school. 
As he is quite old and too lazy to move from his seat 
in case of mischief among the pupils, he stretches this 
unmerciful stick over the unruly ones. He is asleep 
nearly half the time, and, on opening his eyes, he often 
finds the entire school a playground of wild disorder, 
but his long stick soon establishes peace and order. I 
remember many stories of how these young students 
got even with their patriarchal teacher by anointing 
his head and whiskers with oil and wax while he was in 
his usual sleep in the schoolroom, and of what a time 



Ij6 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

he frequently had to find his stolen stick. The 
strangest feature of these Turkish schools is the manner 
of studying. All read their lessons aloud in shrill and 
deafening voices, and recite at the same time in a loud 
monotone. When I passed by a mosque where these 
Turkish schools are held I used to cover my ears. 

THE BAZAAR. 

An Oriental bazaar is a mart of luxury, a vast shop 
of wonders, a labyrinth of curiosities, which has always 
been a source of interest and entertainment to those 
who are strangers to Eastern life ; particularly the 
bazaars of Constantinople, for here all antagonistic 
races, creeds, and tongues, with every shade of com- 
plexion, in an infinite variety of costumes, are mixed 
and mingled — not as we see them at an international 
exposition, but in the full swing of real life. The 
omnipresent Jews are here, with their short stature and 
long, attenuated countenances. Bronze-colored Arabs, 
with keen coal-black eyes, in their flowing robes and 
loose trousers, singularly contrast with the Mongolian 
negroes, with curly hair and round black faces. The 
Aryan group is represented by Armenians and by many 
Europeans of well-bred, dignified carriage and uni- 
formity of dress. Persians in their sheepskin caps ; 
keen-eyed Greeks, cadaverous and proud ; with the 
steady, stalwart sons of America, complete the motley 
congregation — except, indeed, for its predominant 
element, the red-faced, indolent Turk. The babel of 
languages, the rush and crush of carriages, dogs, and 
busy people do not affect his cool, calm disposition or 



1 7% THE TURK AND THE LAND OP HAIG. 

quicken his steps ! For Mohammed has said, " To 
hasten is devilish." His turbaned head is filled with 
pride that this great pot-pourri of commerce and scenic 
enchantment is, in some sense, his. 

Every avenue of the bazaar is appropriated to a 
particular branch of commerce. There are, for 
instance, the shoe bazaar ; the armory bazaar, where 
weapons of almost every period and nation are exposed 
for sale, each occupying a separate avenue or bezes- 
tan. The avenue of money-changers and bankers, a 
trade almost entirely monopolized by Armenians, is a 
glittering scene where jewels, turquoises, pearls, 
brilliants, and the most costly gems in the world are in 
store. The embroidery and shawl bazaars present a 
most gay and novel appearance. There hang Broussa 
silks, Genoa velvets, European satins, hangings of 
Tyrian tapestry, shawls from the goats of Thibet, 
Koran-inscribed Damascus sabers, and rich scarfs from 
the costly looms of Persia and Mecca, vying with 
each other in beauty of design and richness of color. 
These, of all the bazaars, have an air the most Oriental. 
Let us approach this one midway, where the stuffs 
seem particularly rich. Ah ! the aristocratic tradesman 
has already a customer — an American, certainly, from 
the particularly frank and natural bearing ; a Westerner, 
I should say, from the attire — perhaps a Chicagoan. 
Here are the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries face to 
face. The Oriental who, of all Orientals, has never 
emerged from the Middle Ages ; the Occidental who, 
of all his brethren, has his foot most firmly planted on 
the threshold of a new era. But the matter of selling 
and buying in the Orient is very different from the 



SOCIAL AND HOME LIFE. I?9 

rapid business transactions of Western nations. Turkey 
is not a country of fixed prices, and a person must 
bargain for everything he intends to purchase. 
Here one must keep a sharp lookout, both upon the 
quality of the article he would purchase and the price 
he shall pa}', for, with the Mussulman, to get the 
best of the bargain has no possible moral significance, 
and is merely an intellectual feat. The storekeeper 
asks three or four times more than the real worth of 
an article ; and the buyer is never supposed to pay 
the prices asked him in the first instance, but he must 
engage in professional jabber for an unconscionable 
length of time to develop and settle a bargain. To 
the merchant selling is a stilted, punctilious ceremony. 
To the customer buying is a necessary act, to perform 
with the same freedom and naturalness as eating or 
breathing. 

" How much will you take for that shawl ? " 

" Does his lordship refer to this delicate Persian 
fabric ? " 

Often the Turks apply titles of distinction to Ameri- 
can purchasers, knowing only too well how susceptible 
they are to this subtle form of flattery. If they ever 
" talk shop " at home, however, I have no doubt they 
confess it works best with the women. 

" I mean that reddish, buck-colored thing — here — 
this," pulling it down rather unceremoniously. 

"Your lordship will observe that it is very 
delicate." 

" I don't think it will wear very well, but what do 
you ask for it ?" 

" It has lasted already more than a century. It is 



180 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

still fresh. The gentleman's great-granddaughter 
should most certainly wear it." 

" Not married, my good friend ; it's for a sister, you 
know. What's the price of it ? Is it really a hundred 
years old ? " 

Again the wily Turk has touched a weak spot, for 
the newest of nations has proverbially the greatest 
fondness for old things. 

" Oh, your lordship is from a new country ! I have 
carpets here that have been slept on by ten generations 
of noble blood. Will the gentleman look at this rug 
of Bokhara ? " 

" Not now," says the pertinacious Yankee. " How 
much is this shawl ?" 

The Oriental sees that the next move is to name 
a startling price, so he says indifferently, " Five hun- 
dred dollars is a small sum, your lordship." 

The Turkish trader guesses your nationality at 
a glance, and is always ready to deal with you in your 
own coin, and to talk in its figures. 

" Five hundred dollars ! " exclaims the Westerner. 
" You might as well say five thousand." 

Oriental dignity is offended at this. The turbaned 
Turk draws himself up proudly, and turns to arrange 
his wares, saying quietly, " The gentleman may take 
the shawl ; it is his — a free gift." 

Then the Yankee tries his game, too. As if tired of 
dickering for the shawl, he picks up a Damascus blade 
lying beneath a pile of tumbled silks. 

"What's this?" 

" A blade of Damascus." 

" Is it a good one ? " 



1 82 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

" Let his lordship bend the tip and hilt together, so ; 
bend it farther, if you choose. It will never' break. 
Swords of this kind are not made to-day." 

"This is old, too, I suppose?" 

" The Sultan's signature which you will find on the 
hilt is that of the great Sultan Saladin, with whom 
the Franks fought for the tomb of the prophet Jesus." 

"But it bends so easily; you couldn't kill a man 
with it." 

" The gentleman may try." 

"On myself?" laughing. 

" On his humble servant." 

These extravagant remarks of the Turks are not 
jests, but the mere forms of politeness, and expected to 
be taken seriously. 

" What are these marks engraved on this blade ? " 

"Verses from the Koran, promising reward to those 
who die in battle fighting for Allah." Then, under his 
breath, and making a slight salute, " There is no God 
but God, and Mohammed is his prophet." 

The Westerner is by this time convinced that his 
deflection from the main point is of no avail. The 
Turk will go on forever about the Damascus blade, 
apparently quite oblivious of the fact that there has 
been any talk of buying a Persian shawl. If the buyer 
wants the shawl he must come back to it himself. He 
does so in his characteristically abrupt way : 

"Well, how much have I got to pay you for this 
shawl?" 

" His lordship is a gentleman. He evidently wants 
the shawl greatly. I will part with my treasure for 
four hundred dollars." 



SOCIAL AND HOME LIFE. 183 

" I will give you one hundred dollars." 

" The gentleman is jesting. Some Persian woman 
toiled twenty years, perhaps, to complete this wonderful 
fabric. Such articles are the work of a lifetime." 

The American has taken out his money. He counts 
out one hundred dollars and says nothing. 

" His lordship wouldn't have me the loser on his 
account. It is eight years now that I have kept this 
shawl in my shop, waiting for a purchaser wealthy 
enough and worthy to carry it away. I must have 
three hundred and fifty dollars." 

" We are wasting time, my friend," says the for- 
eigner, who seems somewhat experienced. " You 
know you will sell this article for much less than that, 
so why not name your price ? " 

" Camels brought the delicate fabric over many miles 
of desert, a long and weary journey. I have given the 
shawl to the gentleman, but he would not accept it. 
I think he can easily give me three hundred and fifty 
dollars for it." 

" I am a good ways from home, and if I get rid of 
all my money how shall I get back ?" uneasily ; but his 
countenance does not change its expression nor his 
manner descend to haste. 

" By the beard of the Prophet, it has cost me more. 
I must be in need of my bread before I could part with 
so rare an article for such a price. I can show you 
shawls for that figure, but I could not sell this one for 
less than three hundred dollars." 

From this time on the abatement of price is by 
smaller and smaller sums, until it goes down a dollar 
at a time. 



184 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

" His lordship is indeed in a strange land. The 
Prophet bids us be kind to strangers. I would sell 
it to the gentleman for two hundred and seventy-five 
dollars." 

" My friend, I have told you how much I will give. 
You see it here. I cannot give more." 

He holds the money under the glittering black eyes 
of the trader. He, too, knows his antagonist's weak 
point. The glistening coin is a temptation. The 
Oriental fingers are working eagerly. Suffice it to 
say, the Turk will move steadily downward on his 
figures, but at his own gait. He cannot be hurried by 
importunity or indifference, by argument or by direct 
appeal. Moreover, he will never come quite to his 
antagonist's figure, but if the Yankee is a good waiter, 
as this one seems to be, he will doubtless get the article, 
say for one hundred and fifty dollars ; and when this 
bargain is completed, the Oriental will be ready to 
spend another tranquil hour in selling him a rug from 
Smyrna or a scarf from Syria. 

THE FAIR SEX. 

One of the questions most frequently asked me by 
the young people of this country is concerning the 
courtship and marriage of our Eastern youth. The 
frequency of this question has led me to conclude that 
this is a favorite theme of young Americans. 

Oriental harems have been the basis of many a 
delusive fiction, for the secluded privacy of their indoor 
life has thrown about them the charm of mystery. 
Islamism does not allow women to appear in public 




A TURKISH LADY OF RANK. 



1 86 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

save when they are closely veiled ; and even at their 
homes their apartments are entirely separated from 
those to which male callers are admitted. For centuries 
the women of the harem, isolated from society, had no 
knowledge of the outside world, except what they saw 
in their limited field of observation or heard from the 
men of their own household ; for in the mosque and in 
public conveyances, as well as at home, they are kept 
in special apartments. What a contrast to the Ameri- 
can woman, who is a queen in her own land by right of 
her independent birth — that heritage of every true-born 
American citizen ! Aishe, Mohammed's wife, is said to 
have originated the custom of seclusion, and the tra- 
ditions and customs of centuries do not readily yield to 
innovation. The Arabic word harem is synonomous 
with the English word "home" and means "secret" 
or " forbidden." 

Turkish women sometimes disregard the law and 
escape in groups to shady nooks and glens, throw aside 
their veils, and have a right good time. A Swiss 
traveler relates that in a narrow lane of Constantinople 
he met a Mohammedan lady so enrobed that he could 
see nothing of her but the tips of her fingers and her 
sparkling black eyes. As she was followed by female 
slaves, she looked about to see that none of the faith- 
ful were in sight, then pulled down her veil, exposing 
a face of rare beauty, and laughed merrily at the sur- 
prise she had given a Christian. 

Those alone are esteemed the "upper ten " of the 
Orient, the model wives of the East, who are confined 
to their own homes, devoted to the care of their 
children. Happy indeed is she who finds herself the 



SOCIAL AND HOME LIFE. 1 87 

one wife of an affectionate husband ! The practice of 
polygamy among the Turks, though somewhat 
exaggerated, nevertheless does exist, and its very 
existence is an evil in itself and a most crying reproach 
upon social and public decency and morals. Nothing 
can be more encouraging than the gradual disappear- 
ance of the custom, for whoever has reflected on the 
subject can understand that there can be no home life 
worthy of the name except where one woman reigns 
as queen. 

Mohammed tolerated, but did not encourage or 
enjoy, polygamy. The Koran says, " If ye fear that 
ye shall not act with equity towards orphans of the 
female sex, take in marriage of such other women as 
please you, two, or three, or four, and not more." 
And yet it appears that what was intended as a favor 
to unfortunate females proved the source of their 
undoing ; though the Prophet unquestionably had 
respect for women, as he owed his success largely to 
one of his wives. 

The education of the Turkish women is limited to 
housekeeping of a respectable order, and to the 
culinary art, while for accomplishments she learns to 
dance, sing, and play the dulcimer. It would not do 
to omit that in their fancy needlework, rugs, drapery, 
etc., there is much to be admired. Silk scarfs with 
love ballads from Hafiz or sacred verses from the 
Koran wrought in golden threads upon them, jewel- 
sprinkled cushions, richly ornamented robes and gar- 
ments, indicate expert skill and good taste. In fact, 
a great many of the furnishings of their homes are the 
products of household industries. 




A MOSLEM SLAVE GIRL OF THE HAKEM. 



SOCIAL AND HOME LIFE. 1 89 

In common with all other women, they have a fond- 
ness for fine dress, and their costumes conform to the 
latest Western styles, as fashions are introduced direct 
from the French capital. The purely indoor dress is 
simple, yet rich, in silk, velvet, and satin — an under- 
garment of light gauze material with full and long 
sleeves ; then bright-colored, baggy trousers of the 
zouave pattern more or less concealed by the gold- 
embroidered robe or outer garment, which is open in 
front and has slits at the sides of the wide, flowing 
sleeves. Such a costume is certainly a good one from 
a sanitary point of view. The zouave sleeveless vest 
is worn whenever weather or taste calls for it, and the 
head-dress is usually a velvet cap decorated with tinsel 
and jewelry. The neck and arms are literally loaded 
with silver and gold bracelets and necklaces set with 
costly stones. The feet are encased in the dainty 
Oriental slippers with upturned pointed toes. 

The Turkish woman suffers from too ricnd restraint, 
and lives a life of almost absolute stagnation. A 
Turkish husband may lash his wife with tongue and 
hands before her children and servants to his heart's 
content ; he may be as profane as he pleases, and may 
apply to her any number of humiliating or obscene 
epithets ; and to all sorts of ill-treatment from him she 
must submit without a frown ; for if her actions- in any 
way displease him she is in imminent danger of missing 
paradise. Her prime duty is to court and obtain his 
good will. A wife whose tongue has made trouble 
for her husband will have that " useful " appendage 
lengthened to one hundred and fifty feet at the judg- 
ment ! With such a weapon, what man would dare 



190 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

to marry one of them ! The Prophet himself declares 
that he would not officiate at the funeral of his own 
daughter if her husband was displeased with her. 

The Armenian woman, though so close a neighbor 
to the Turkish, radically differs from her in many par- 
ticulars. Circumstances have been more propitious for 
her advancement ; seclusion, polygamy, or divorce do 
not darken her present or threaten her future. In 
youth she shares alike with young men the advantages 
of culture and education. American customs, as well 
as American furniture, pianos, and sewing machines, 
bring comfort to her home. She entertains callers of 
either sex, but takes particular delight in the company 
of the wives and daughters of European and American 
residents. She reads, writes, and dresses in Western 
fashion, and is thus quite responsive to the evolution 
of the times. It is not to be denied, however, that, 
with all her modern accomplishments, she is not per- 
mitted so much liberty, neither is she esteemed or 
valued quite so highly, as the women of America. 

It is a pleasure to mention in this connection that 
the rising generation of the best type of the Turkish 
ladies is also indicating a slight tendency toward 
Western progressiveness. The old-fashioned yeshmak, 
which once almost completely hid her features, is being 
gradually superseded by a thin gauze veil, which is 
indeed so thin that, like a transparent glass, it shows 
more clearly the beautiful countenance of the hanoum 
within. Thus, even in the changeless East, the "new 
woman " is evidently asserting herself. The disregard 
of even the thin veil by some of the Turkish women 
went so far as to call forth an trade from the Sultan 





THE FAIR WOMEN OF THE HAREM. 




SULTAN S HAREM ON THE BOSPHORUS. 



I92 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF IIAIG. 

commandinof them to cover their faces. The Turkish 
woman, too, is seeking the acquaintance of her Euro- 
pean sisters, and is endeavoring to acquire their 
manners and customs as far as her religion will allow ; 
but the general diffusion of knowledge and freedom, 
like everything Turkish, is very slow. The ignorance, 
superstition, and bigotry of the nation are largely the 
result of uneducated mothers. In the absence of the 
father on affairs of business during the day, the child 
is under the direct influence of his mother at home, and 
every characteristic of her conduct has a molding 
influence on him. If her words be wise and her con- 
duct refined, the child will thus be molded ; and, on 
the contrary, if she be ignorant and rude, her defects 
will be reproduced in her child. Thus women largely 
determine the standard of civilization for their country, 
and it is altogether the exception for an empty-headed 
mother to bring up clear-headed, intellectual children. 
With woman's intellectual, ethical, and spiritual eleva- 
tion the nation rises ; while, with her degradation and 
humiliation, the nation sinks to the lowest level of 
civilization. If we traverse the ages covered by his- 
tory, we shall find these statements fully verified. We 
need not go to past ages for conviction, but need only 
compare the old stagnant dullness and darkness of 
some Asian countries of to-day with bright and pros- 
perous America, whose fair daughters share alike with 
their brothers the highest education of the land. 
Happily, the Armenians are realizing the seriousness 
of this problem more and more, and are accepting the 
education of woman as a vital part of the Christian 
faith so generally held by our nation. 



SOCIAL AND HOME LIFE. I93 

Is the Turkish woman responsible for the semi- 
civilized position she occupies in the world ? As has 
been indicated, she is more than anxious to take her 
true place among her progressive sisters, but the 
religious institutions under which she is unfortunately 
placed create all these inhuman customs — seclusion, 
polygamy, and blind submission to ill-treatment — which 
she is under moral bonds to obey. The religious insti- 
tutions, therefore, are directly accountable for her sad 
position. Did Mohammed live in the present era, I do 
not believe he would approve of these customs. The 
improvement or elevation of the condition of Turkish 
women, then, is to be only through a reformation of 
the Mohammedan religion. 

While it is a great thing to know other people, it is 
a greater thing to know ourselves. A man does not 
know or see himself in a true and impartial light. His 
character, good or bad, is like a basket on his back. 
He may be conscious of it, but cannot see it as other 
people do. What is true of individuals is also true of 
nations. Does the American woman see herself as she 
is seen in her exalted position, towering in freedom 
above her sisters of all other climes ? And yet she is 
not satisfied and asks for the enlargement of her sphere. 
The womanhood of this land is certainly doing well in 
its own realm ; as to whether woman would accomplish 
more outside of her dearest kingdom, the home, it is 
not within the bounds of my Oriental ideas to predict, 
much less to decide. I am, however, a believer in the 
good doctrine of Confucius that " True virtue consists 
in avoiding extremes." Suffrage might and might not 
benefit womankind ; yet in either case should woman 



194 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

enter the turmoil of politics, it is my humble opinion 
that her sacred mission in the home, where she reigns 
supreme, would be somewhat neglected and suffer 
accordingly. 

While acknowledging the superior intellectual 
attainments of the American woman, her grace of 
manner, her social charms, I contend that her Arme- 
nian sister, if not a peer, would at least have become a 
close rival, had she been privileged to enjoy equal 
advantages. Within recent years a limited number of 
higher institutions have been opened to the women of 
Armenia ; and their fair occupants have conclusively 
proven that it is not brains that they are lacking, but a 
larger environment and freedom from the old stagna- 
tion of Oriental tradition. 



COURTSHIP AND MARRIAGE. 

The matches and courtships of the Turks are beset 
with more difficulties than in Western countries. 
Young Turks do not call on their lady friends and pro- 
long the tale — indeed a tale of long hours among some 
Americans ! Most Turkish girls cannot even write, but 
many generations of practice have developed a unique 
system of symbols by which the)'' communicate with 
young men whose friendship they wish to encourage. 
A kanoum, or young lady, sees in the private grounds 
of a neighbor over the wall a comely youth whom she 
admires, and then proceeds to communicate with him. 
She prepares an affectionate surprise, not with paper 
and ink, for she cannot write, but she makes up an 
expressive token of regard with a piece of string, 




A TURKISH YOUNG LADY. 



I96 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

delicious fruit, fragrant flowers, and pretty bits of 
stone, each of which has a meaning. When completed 
it is tossed over the intervening wall, and, lying near 
his favorite ramble, is soon found and read like an open 
book. The thoughts expressed are those in vogue the 
world over under like impulses, and ere long she will 
find an answer beneath her window similar to her 
message. This strange correspondence will continue 
for a varying period. By and by, if the tokens are 
indicative of unaltering affection, the young man brings 
the question of his matrimonial scheme to the con- 
sideration of his parents, inspiring them with the same 
zeal and determination that Patrick Henry displayed 
in the Continental Congress when he exclaimed, " Give 
me liberty or give me death ! " and the marriage of the 
young lovers is arranged by mutual agreement of the 
families. This is but the formal sequel to an affair of 
the heart, romantic in its inception and natural in its 
results. With such a system of communicating her 
thoughts, many a Mohammedan girl does not regret 
her inability to write ; she has no conception of any 
other use which she could make of the pen. 

Doubtless she has been quite willing to submit to 
those forms of marriage ceremony and wedding festivity 
which make her almost a dummy for the occasion. 
To be enveloped and thickly blindfolded in a colored 
sheet, and placed in a corner for hours, mute and 
motionless, like the corpse at the Irish wake, is the 
fate of the Turkish bride, and though the marriage 
fHes are prolonged for several days and are an occasion 
of great joy, enlivened by music and dancing, she is 
not allowed to be exposed to the public gaze. It has 



SOCIAL AND HOME LIFE. IQ7 

always been a wonder to me how such an odd custom 
was ever inaugurated and allowed to dominate for so 
many generations ; how the happiest occasion of life 
should be spent in such a state of humiliation ! 

With the Armenians the usages are quite different, 
although among the more old-fashioned parents con- 
tracts for the marriage of their children are made while 
they are yet infants, and neither the boy nor the girl 
has any voice in the matter. In many well-ordered 
Armenian homes, however, courtship and marriage — 
indeed, social life in general — follow the regime of 
Western civilization. In the matter of choice for 
future companionship, both the young woman and the 
young man have their say in a manner not unlike the 
free expressions of the independent American youth. 
Betrothed Armenians, too, have their garden walks, 
afternoon and evening calls, and social receptions, but 
to elopement or marriage without the formal sanction 
of parents seldom do they resort, for the influence of 
tradition and social customs in the " changeless East " 
is strong and does not yield to this phase of Western 
civilization. 

As the time for an Armenian marriage approaches, 
the parents of the bride and groom send out a large 
number of invitations to their respective friends and 
relatives. Thus the wedding becomes a picturesque 
concourse of guests gathered from far and near at the 
homes of the bride and groom, all dressed in gala 
attire, with profuse gifts for the bride. The pres- 
entation of the gifts, known as the bride's toilet, is an 
interesting ceremony, always witnessed by the coterie 
of girl friends whom she has invited. On this occasion 



I98 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

the bride's hands sparkle with diamonds, while her 
finger-tips and palms are dyed with henna, a sort of 
powder made of dried leaves of camphor. It is con- 
sidered proper for the maidens about her to feel sor- 
rowful, and they indeed vie with one another in their 
profusion of tears and plaintive songs to the sound of 
tambourines, expressive of regret for the departure of 
their friend into a new sphere of life. A similar cere- 
mony is being enacted at the home of the groom, 
except that all is mirth and hilarity with them. But 
no matter how many tears custom may cause the 
young maidens to shed, the wedding is made an occa- 
sion of the greatest joy and merriment. Everything 
puts on a most brilliant appearance, with much gaud 
and glitter, pomp and pride, everywhere. What a dis- 
play of rich robes ! What a vision of flashing jewels ! 
After much music, dancing, and refreshments, the com- 
panions of the groom advance in procession to the 
home of the bride, who, arrayed in wedding gown and 
veil, awaits the event of her life, the arrival of the 
bridegroom — near the midnight hour, if the old custom 
is followed. Then all the guests, accompanied by the 
bride and groom, march in gay and noisy procession, 
with beating drums and sounding pipes and brightly 
flaring torches, to the church, where a simple yet im- 
pressive ceremony is performed in the presence of 
many witnesses. Upon entering the sacred shrine, the 
bride and groom in rapt devotion make the sign of the 
cross three times, with a prayer ; then moving toward 
the altar steps, they take their positions there side by 
side. The service is chanted in the classical Armenian, 
and portions bearing on marriage are read from both 




AN ARMENIAN MERCHANT AND FAMILY IN MARSOVAN, TURKEY. 



200 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF 1IAIG. 

the Old and New Testaments. Then the priest, from 
the altar steps, asks the bridegroom and the bride 
separately whether they are acceptable to each other. 
At this time should either person object to the union 
the objection is accepted, and the marriage stops then 
and there. Such incidents, however, scarcely ever 
happen. At the conclusion of the formal acceptance, 
the couple stand with their foreheads touching, while a 
cross is held between them as a symbol of the Holy 
Ghost. A golden cross with a silk cord is fastened by 
the priest on the forehead of each, and these are not 
removed until the next morning. Upon the con- 
clusion of the marriage ceremony the happy pair walk 
hand-in-hand to the threshold of the sanctuary, and 
thence the bride, supported by the bridesmaids, marches 
homeward with the usual demonstrations. 

At home, while husband and wife are seated side by 
side, the guests follow in a regular line, kiss the crosses 
on their foreheads, and make each an offering for the 
benefit of the officiating clergymen. In the evening 
there is generally a banquet tendered by the newly 
married pair to their friends ; and all the next day, 
sometimes the entire week, the young couple are busy 
with merry feasting and the congratulations of callers. 
To make the greatest occasion in life the greatest occa- 
sion of jubilee is certainly a beautiful custom worthy 
of imitation. 

The conduct expected of a newly married bride is 
very singular indeed, and bears a remarkable resem- 
blance to the old-fashioned patriarchal manners of the 
Armenians. She utters never a word except when 
alone with her husband, until after the birth of her 



SOCIAL AND HOME LIFE. 201 

firstborn, and then she talks on, as a young mother can 
to her own. After a while she will talk to her mother- 
in-law ; still later, her own mother may again hear her 
voice, and ere long she will speak in whispers to the 
young girls of the household. She will not leave the 
house during the first year of her married life except to 
go to devotions. Practically her discipline as a bride 
terminates in six years, but she will never in her life- 
time open her lips to a man unless he is related to her. 
Such exacting devotion is unknown elsewhere. Young 
girls of the household are allowed to conduct them- 
selves in striking contrast to the young married 
woman. They chatter freely and cheerfully, and their 
ruddy faces, full of mirth, are the brightest part of the 
domestic picture. 

The marriage ties so sacredly formed are never 
broken, for an Armenian once married is married for- 
ever, unless death should break the tie. Should a 
poor match be made, it is certainly unfortunate; but 
they have to put up with each other without resorting 
to divorce ; for divorce, while so common with the 
Turk, who dismisses his wife with a brutal " Get out ! " 
without even troubling the court-house officials, is, in- 
deed, an unknown luxury to the Armenian. Should he 
have an uncongenial companion, he has to endure it 
with the same kind of patience as he would endure a 
sore head, which, though he may try to cure, he will 
hardly cut off, for it is a part of his body. 




AN ARMENIAN FAMILY. 



SOCIAL AND HOME LIFE. 203 

CARE OF THE SICK — DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD. 

Let us turn our steps for a while from these brilliant 
nuptial gayeties to solemn scenes of sickness and of 
death. 

In cities "medical science and treatment of the sick are 
very much on the same plan and in much the same con- 
dition as among Americans, and within the last quarter 
of a century expert foreign and native doctors have 
multiplied. In small villages and hamlets inhabited by 
Turks, however, the care of the sick is very singular 
indeed, for professional nursing is unknown and quacks 
are numerous. The invalid wants to be cured at once 
— in a few hours. This universal desire to get rid of 
disease in a hurry makes him willing to try anything 
and everything that promise immediate victory over 
his malady. The larger and more repulsive the dose, 
the better he thinks his chance of recovery, and he 
cannot understand what good a few drops or a sugar- 
coated pill can do. They do not apply for a doctor 
until the sick is about to give up the ghost ; in fact, the 
practice of medicine is not generally recognized as a 
distinct profession among ignorant villagers, but the 
neighbor who has traveled and seen much of the world 
is supposed to know best what should be done in case 
of sickness. All educated foreigners, therefore, are 
considered to be doctors, and are constantly impor- 
tuned day and night to treat the sick. On account of 
this ignorance and credulity, quacks have their hands 
full, and play without mercy on the confidence of their 
patients. For instance, they give the dust of the 
earth, plain white paper soaked in water and admins- 



204 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

tered in teaspoon ful doses, or colored water to be ap- 
plied in various forms — all of which pleads with mute 
eloquence for the medical missionary to save the bodies 
as well as the souls of those who have yet to learn that 
God's natural laws are as imperative as the moral code. 
Physicians have found that the naturally vigorous con- 
stitutions of the people respond readily to scientific 
treatment when the quacks can be kept away. 

When a man is ill, in order to divert the mind of 
the sufferer, all his relatives and friends gather around 
his bed, where they keep up a loud conversation, 
smoking their long pipes and laughing loudly, while 
in a corner of the room the young boys play, shout, 
and fight. By such soothing processes the patient is 
sometimes lulled to slumber, often the slumber of 
death ! No wonder the graveyards are numerous and 
thickly populated ! 

Diseases vary according to locality and the occupa- 
tions of the people. Smallpox makes sad ravages at 
times, causing great loss of life, though Pasteur's 
system of inoculation by virus has long been under- 
stood and practiced here. Indeed, mothers have long 
been known to protect their infants from the virus of 
serpents and scorpions by giving them the diluted 
poison in infancy, and such children can be seen 
handling scorpions with impunity. Thus it would 
seem that Asia Minor is the cradle of modern applied 
science, as well as of the human race. 

When death knocks at any door, that house is the 
scene of the wildest demonstiations of grief. Fre- 
quently the stillness of the night is so disturbed by the 
zealous mourners that sleep in the neighborhood is 



SOCIAL AND HOME LIFE. 205 

almost impossible. They cry aloud, bewailing their 
loss, and sometimes they tear, their hair and embrace 
the lifeless body, proclaiming the real or imaginary 
virtues of the deceased. Burial follows quickly upon 
death. The body is taken out into the yard, washed, 
wrapped tidily, and placed in an open bier, which is 
carried upon the shoulders of friends and neighbors, 
first to a church where the service for the dead is 
chanted, then to the cemetery where it is placed in a 
shallow grave. The cemetery is at a distance from 
human habitations, and is often one huge common 
grave. Mohammedans, however, do not bury twice 
in the same place, which makes their cemeteries much 
larger than those of Christians. Among them, imme- 
diately after death, the body is removed to the porch 
of the mosque. After the usual noonday worship, the 
congregation come out to the yard of the mosque and 
stand devoutly in regular order. As the sonorous 
voice of the holy man comes from the sacred shrine, 
the entire congregation take off their shoes, throw 
them on the ground, and stand erect, putting their 
hands to their ears. At the second call all the hats 
are removed, and all the heads are bowed down to the 
ground in devotion ; at the third call, the entire con- 
gregation, having put on their shoes and fezes, follow 
the corpse to the cemetery, where it is taken from the 
coffin and buried without further ceremony. Then the 
coffin is taken back to the mosque to await another 
funeral. 

Individual graves of the Armenians often have 
interesting monuments. Designs indicating the occu- 
pation or profession of him who reposes beneath are 



206 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

carved upon them. A blacksmith's grave, for instance, 
is marked by a hammer and anvil. Those who 
suffered martyrdom have the fact indicated by a cross. 
In the Armenian provinces of Asia Minor the oldest 
gravestones are in the form of crouching rams, the 
inscriptions being cut on the sides. 

Mohammedan memorials are free from the desecra- 
tions too commonly seen in Christian cemeteries. 
The headstone is a large block with inscriptions, and 
at the foot of the grave is another of almost equal size, 
the space between being built up with marble slabs to 
resemble a chest or casket. 

In large cities forests of cypress trees cast deep 
shadows of mourning over the resting place of the 
dead. In his escription of these cemeteries, how 
graphic are the words of Byron : 

"The place of a thousand tombs 

That shine beneath, while dark above 

The sad but living cypress glooms 

And withers not, though branch and leaf 

Are stamp'd with an eternal grief, 
Like early unrequited love." 

THE RURAL DISTRICTS. 

If you have leisure and a fondness for rural beauty, 
let us mount on horseback, or on little donkeys, and 
seek a village where we may cross the threshold of an 
old-fashioned Turkish dwelling. On our way to the 
country, as we ride along, enjoying the glories of the 
summer, giving and returning the salutations of peace 
and welcome, we shall find much that is interesting 
both in objects and scenery. We hear the rippling of 



iirm^~^v 




r m 



■ iii' 



208 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

the wayside brook, and the notes of the birds as we 
pass under the arching trees. Our eyes are greeted 
by lovely hillsides and dales covered with beds of 
fragrant wild flowers or by waving fields of grain, 
stretching away to the horizon. Yonder is the moun- 
tain side, dotted with log houses and with the slowly 
moving caravans of Syrian camels, journeying for 
many weary saats* In the absence of railroads, these 
animals perform the duties of locomotives, although at 
a somewhat slower rate. The peculiar feature about 
this mighty host of camels is that they are led by a 
little sleepy donkey. This gives origin to one of our 
proverbs. When a mighty intellect follows the 
counsel of an insignificant one, it is said " The camel 
is following the donkey." Here and there we see 
large droves of horses, buffaloes, sheep, f and oxen 
pasturing on the great sweeps of grass. Yonder from 
the high, wooded hills a host of donkeys with loads of 
wood on their backs and loud, jingling bells suspended 
from their necks, braying, kicking, and jumping, are on 
the road to their respective homes ; for each donkey 
knows where he belongs and needs no direction in 
finding the place. These little creatures are collected 
from various homes every morning by a donkey-man, 
and returned in the evening with a burden of wood for 
the use of the household. As we approach the cottage 



* Natives reckon distances by hours (saats) and never by miles. Camels move 
at the rate of twenty-five or thirty miles a day with burden of nine or ten hundred 
pounds. 

f The sheep here, unlike those in America, have broad, heavy tails of pure fat 
from three to six inches in diameter and from thirteen to fifteen inches in length. 
In fact, the tail is one-half as heavy as the body of the sheep. The fat of the tail 
is fried and used as lard. 



SOCIAL AND HOME LIFE. 209 

all the dogs in the village are thoroughly roused by 
our knocking. Our host is the type of a Turkish 
patriarch, with a brown, weather-beaten countenance 
and a venerable beard sweeping down his chest. By 
common consent he bears the title kehyaJi, or "head- 
man," of the village. Like his fellow villagers, he is 
simple-minded, good-hearted, honest, but unprogress- 
ive, unambitious, and ignorant. He cannot read or 
write, nor does he know any other literature and 
history than that of his own immediate ancestors, and 
he passionately cherishes these legends and traditions 
of his fathers. He never strives to keep up appear- 
ances. He wears a pair of balloon-like trousers of 
very voluminous folds, and his abba, or coat, is a long 
cloak of sheepskin with the woolly side turned in, 
which he has worn constantly summer and winter for 
many years. His head is wrapped in a huge turban 
as large as a pumpkin. Like neighboring peasants, 
his life is simple and his wants are few. Many genera- 
tions have wrought little or no change in his modes 
and manners. He scorns all modern improvements, 
and regards them with much suspicion and prejudice. 
His bigotry and ignorance render him an easy victim 
to superstition ; and, consequently, any Western farming 
machinery, and any advanced movement that is be- 
yond his comprehension, he pronounces " devilish," and 
has nothing to do with it. 

Rev. Dr. Cyrus Hamlin, ex-President of Robert 
College, says the Turks ascribe mechanical invention 
to Satan, the "stoned devil," against whom they pray 
five times a day. " I have myself," he says, " for some 
supposed mechanical ability, been seriously introduced 



210 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

by one Ottoman to another as ' the most Satanic man 
in the empire.' " Our Turk admits no innovation, as he 
never pretends or attempts any scheme which was not 
thought of and followed by his fathers ; and thus life 
flows on in the old channels. He is the head of a 
great family, grouped together on the mountain side, 
with its green, sloping pastures, and lives with his flocks 
and numerous children. An ample roof shelters the 
nearly threescore members of the family for genera- 
tions under a single roof, without knowledge or care 
for the world outside their little village ! The glories 
of great cities, the pomp of pashas and royal dignita- 
ries, are to them like a distant tradition. Yet they are 
comfortable, happy, and contented in their little round 
of duties and pleasures, and are blessed with an easy- 
going temperament. The young man rises with the 
sun in the morning, and w r ith his flocks wanders over 
green mountains and hills, by shady groves and still 
waters, singing cheerfully his native ballads through the 
woods, or playing his sweet-toned flute. He returns 
home late, as the waning moon feebly lights up the 
exquisite landscape. He joins the family dance by the 
blaze of the evening fire, while the old women weave 
cotton and yarn, or are occupied in making various 
articles for domestic use. 

The house is built in a picturesque locality by the 
old kekyah, who is the architect and carpenter as well 
as the government agent of the village. Logs are 
brought down from the near forest. Bricks are made 
of mud and straw, and are molded in various sizes 
and shapes, then put into open fields to dry. In a few 
days they become sufficiently solid for building a 



SOCIAL AND HOME LIFE. 211 

substantial house. The earth which is dug out is 
banked against the sides of the house, and the rear of 
the structure is entirely imbedded in the hillside. 
Light enters through the oiled paper windows in the 
flat roof, or, when windows are altogether discarded, 
the occupants are content with what light penetrates 
down from the low chimney, which is not higher than 
the roof. 

The abodes of the Turkish farmers are more like 
beehives than human dwellings. They are really huts, 
mainly one-story, barn and house being built under one 
roof ; and the occupants utilize the warmth of cows 
and horses in the winter to keep themselves warm. A 
central oven fills the house with smoke, which finally 
finds its way out through one of the openings in the 
roof. Such an abode old Diogenes himself would 
have coveted. In the summer the stork builds her 
nest on the broad-topped chimney and raises her brood 
quite undisturbed. At night the room is illuminated 
by a feeble, flickering olive-oil wick. A brazier of char- 
coal is placed in the center of the room and, like the 
flame of the vestal virgins, is seldom allowed to go out. 
It serves a double purpose, as a heater and as a cook 
stove. There are no tables, no chairs, no books, no 
ornamental decorations, but here and there are spread 
divans and minders, or cushions, with drapery of Kurd- 
ish stuffs, upon which the occupants stretch themselves 
in cross-legged carelessness. 

One, or perhaps two, large rooms suffice for sleeping, 
cooking, eating, and lounging. With such rude belong- 
ings, the kehyah never seems to think anything is lack- 
ing. On the wall, if we charitably term it so, or rather 



212 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAlG. 

on the partial partition, that separates the living apart- 
ments from the vast stable, are saddles, bridles, guns, 
and the entire paraphernalia of the field and chase. 
The equine favorites are nearest the family ; for, as 
with all Orientals and some Occidentals, the horse 
ranks highest in esteem as a domestic animal. Farther 
on are donkeys, buffaloes, cows, and sheep, with chickens 
scattered between them. 

As we step into the house we are received with a 
profusion of salaams. We at once find ourselves in the 
midst of a large Turkish family, — grandfathers, fathers, 
uncles, brothers, cousins, and numerous children, — all 
assembled in a large room, dressed in gay and odd 
colors, sitting cross-legged around the bright, blazing 
fire and warming their lazy bones. But we fail to see 
in the great gathering any women, except the old grand- 
mother, the senior wife of the kehyah, who is curiously 
dressed, or rather enveloped, in a woolen garment from 
head to foot, and sits in a dark corner. The young 
Turks here must surely have some wives ; in such a 
large family, doubtless there must be some young girls, 
too ; but where are they ? All out of sight ! As their 
religion does not allow women to appear in the presence 
of men, no matter how intimately acquainted, they are 
all driven into seclusion — a very bad custom, indeed ! 
The more religious a Moslem the more rigidly the 
privacy of women is enforced, and, as a rule, the country 
people in this neighborhood are the most zealous of 
religious fanatics. I sometimes think if one of these 
over-pious Mohammedan Turks should chance to drop 
into an American city, and should see the young sons 
and daughters of America walking arm in arm in the 



214 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

full swing of social liberty, he would be shocked to 
death. 

At the side opposite the darkest chimney corner, 
where the grandmother is, sits the old kehyah, stretch- 
ing his feet out and smoking, with Mussulman gravity, 
his pipe, which is so extremely long that it extends 
from the corner to the center of the room. In the 
course of our conversation the old man remarks concern- 
ing his residence that his great-great-great-great — that 
"great" however, goes about half a mile — grandfather 
was born and died on the same spot where he now 
lives ; and that he is about seventy-five years of age, 
but never has been a dozen saats journey from his 
home. This is the case with many a Turkish peasant ; 
many,, indeed, never set foot outside their farms. No 
progress is ever made in this pastoral life. Through 
his own inclination, and the policy of his rulers, the 
Turk has remained isolated through the ages from the 
blessings of civilization ; and neither European influence 
nor missionaries have managed to make any ingress to 
speak of. 

As we chat with our host our talk is interrupted by 
the lusty shouting and fighting of the young boys. 
Then he is obliged to go out and give them a scolding. 
Before his return he is called to another part of the 
house to quell a still louder tumult, for ten or fifteen 
dogs are having a lively concert of howling and bark- 
ing. On his return let us ask him why he doesn't kill 
those useless brutes and get rid of them once for all. 
He will answer, " It is a great sm against Allah, and 
a violation of our laws." So numerous are dogs, 
especially in the country, that when a Turk was once 



SOCIAL AND HOME LIFE. 21$ 

asked the population of the village, he replied, " About 
one hundred and sixty dogs .and one hundred and 
twenty people." 

When dinner-time comes, all the males of the house 
return from the field, wash their hands and faces, and 
sit cross-legged on the floor in a circle around the 
sufra, or low table. There are spoons, but no knives 
or forks. In the center is placed an immense bowl of 
hot soup. When ready for the fray, the kehyah gives 
them the signal to commence, and immediately all the 
spoons enter the bowl. The soup is followed with a 
dish of meat. Each rolls up his long, flowing sleeves, 
and with bare fingers and unbounded appetite sepa- 
rates the flesh from the bones. Then comes the unfail- 
ing accompaniment, yoghurt, or coagulated buttermilk, 
a highly prized species of refreshment. After a suc- 
cession of dishes, the meal is ended with washing 
hands. 

The kehyah is the greatest scientific authority in 
the neighborhood, for the fact that he is the oldest 
dignitary of the village naturally makes him the 
authority on all questions of importance. One night 
the conversation of the family was interrupted by a 
bright flash of lightning, accompanied by heavy 
thunder. One of the children of the household asked 
the "grandfather" the cause of the bright light and 
the great noise ; then the wise old patriarch grasped 
his sweeping beard and, in a dignified tone, gave this 
explanation : 

" Up in the clouds," said he, " our prophet Moham- 
med and Christ went into business together, the 
profits to be divided equally. One night when Christ 



2l6 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

was deep asleep Mohammed stole all the profits and 
left the place. In the morning Christ discovered the 
treachery of Mohammed and pursued him in his golden 
chariot, and so the noise of the pursuer and the rum- 
ble of the chariots are what make the thunder. The 
lightning is the bullets of fire which Christ shot at 
his treacherous partner. At length poor Mohammed, 
finding escape in mid air impossible, suddenly plunged 
into a deep body of great water, where he was quickly 
followed by Christ, and the terrible force of their con- 
flict caused the waters to splash and pour down upon 
the earth, thus causing the rain." 

These stones are handed down from generation to 
generation, and each " remarkable " son inherits the 
traditional knowledge of his orreat-oreat-erandfather. 
The odd part of it all is that he is absolutely sure of 
the accuracy of his knowledge, and has no ability to 
discriminate between reality and fiction, fact and fancy. 
The idea of the word science does not seem to have 
entered his head ; to talk to him of science is like 
talking to a blind man of colors. The primary step 
to any sort of attainment is the consciousness of 
deficiency and ignorance. He who does not know that 
he does not know will never know any more than the 
nothing he does know. How sad to see, in such an 
age of enlightenment, midnight darkness settled down 
upon so many people ! 

Now let us watch how the kehyah works in the field. 
He has no set time to commence his harvest ; he takes 
his time, as there is not much fear of rain during the 
harvest season. As soon as the stalks of the crops are 
yellow, or sufficiently matured, they are cut by hand 



SOCIAL AND HOME LIFE. 217 

with scythes and are stacked up in piles in the open 
field. In due season, the piles are all removed from 
the various quarters to the village threshing-floor in 
large arabahs, or carts, drawn by buffaloes and heifers. 
The threshing-floor is a hard and smooth circular piece 
of ground, from fifty to eighty feet in diameter, upon 
which the stalks are strewn. Then the threshing 
machine, a sort of sled, with a woman or boy standing 
on it, is drawn around on the hard earthen floor by 
oxen. This threshing implement is made of a hard 
piece of wood, and set on the under side with sharp, 
flinty stones like Indian arrow-heads. It grinds the 
straw into fine chaff, and sifts out the grain. At the 
evening breeze, the threshed grain is thrown into 
the air with a light shovel, and thus the broken straw is 
blown on one side, leaving the wheat on the ground 
for the granaries. The chaff is also gathered and 
stored away for the purpose of feeding the cattle dur- 
ing the winter. 

The farmer's son does not migrate to towns in search 
of better employment, but stays where he is born, by 
his father's cattle, possessed only of what the cravings of 
nature require, and is immovable in his peasant in- 
stincts as well as in beliefs, ideas, and usages. For his 
dull and unenterprising character and his perpetual 
poverty, the Turkish government is to a large extent 
responsible. The system of levying a tithe of all prod- 
uce, and the additional custom dues for the exporta- 
tion of products from one province to another, leave 
no inducement to the outraged farmer to grow more 
than is required to keep soul and body together, and 
his family is thus reduced to the condition of a stolid 



218 



THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 



and unprogressive peasantry. Governmental exactions, 
wrung by dishonest officials from the hard-toiling farm- 
ers, are another evidence of Turkish degeneration and 
decay. Indeed, of all nations, the Turkish government 
is the last to realize the relation of town and farm ; 




A TURKISH PLOW AND PLOWMAN. 



that the physical health, vigor, and, indeed the progress- 
iveness of a people, in no little measure depend on 
the nutritive quality of its flour, meat, and vegetables, 
and that the better the farmer the better will be the 
quality of his produce, and the higher the prices 
from his customers in the city. When we add to this 
trait of stupidity the crude and primitive system of 



SOCIAL AND HOME LIFE. 219 

agriculture, which we have elsewhere described, we can- 
not wonder that the name of the Turk has ever been a 
synonym of decay and poverty. ' 

In rural districts, such as the one described, the old 
patriarchal administrative system is still in vogue, 
where, within the crude and primitive log-house, by the 
hearth, sits the venerable kehyah, whose every word is 
law to those within. He is, as indicated, the agent for 
his community in all transactions with the government. 
In the consideration of important affairs of general in- 
terest he meets with the elders of neighboring ham- 
lets ; and, acting as a committee, they form the commune 
— a most striking illustration of the essential democ- 
racy of Oriental society with the patriarchal system 
intact. In the high regard for family rights it is 
superior to the Greek democracy. Under a fostering 
dominant power, no reason can be given why it should 
not continue to the end of time as it has continued from 
the beginning. In times of adversity it is a bulwark 
against anarchy and confusion. This system is a per- 
petual monument to the sanctity of God's first human 
institution — the family. Indeed, all law originates in 
the family relation. All attempts to supplant it by mili- 
tary despotism, communism, or celibate asceticism have 
been failures. The patriarchal system was the applica- 
tion of the family idea to the tribal relation. Recog- 
nition of the essential independence of tribes, subject 
to treaty obligations and payment of taxes, is the key 
to the permanence of Oriental institutions. This sys- 
tem, free from man's abuses, has never been improved 
upon, and never will be. 



THE TURKS. 



"Asia Minor is the recruiting ground of the Turk, and is still 
almost untouched by the invader." — Stanley Lane-Poole. 

THE early history of the Turks, if the accounts 
which we have of them can indeed be called his- 
tory, is a commingling of war, romance, wandering con- 
quests, and the glory of Eastern courts. For the poet, 
here are themes strange and untried. For the roman- 
cer, there is no dearth of fact as rich as fancy. The 
political economist here finds his theories in the frame- 
work of the material; and the historian, for his portion, 
contrary to the common parlance, comes last and least. 
The name and race at their birth are in the swaddling 
of mystery and myth. Near the central part of Asia, 
twenty-two centuries ago, we find a people spasmodi- 
cally nomadic, composed of several kindred tribes, 
indiscriminately known by the general term Turks. 
They are of the same origin as those nomadic tribes, 
the Mongols, Tartars, Calm neks, and Kirgheez. The 
Chinese, dwelling some distance to the eastward, 
designated them by the name Hiongnu or, more liter- 
ally, Tu-kin. Whether or no the modern " Turk" is a 
corruption of the Chinese appellation, we are unable 
to say. We do know, however, from evidences that 
exist even at the present day, that this people, warlike 
and aggressive, overran Asia, even venturing as far 
north as the Lena and as far west as the Black Sea. 

220 



THE TURKS. 221 

The Chinese, who had long before held them in sub- 
jection, proved troublesome neighbors ; and for three 
centuries constant war was waged between the two 
powers. The natural outcome of this was that the 
nation was split into a northern and a southern empire. 
Among the rich mountains of the Altai were the lands 
of the northern tribes. They were not destined to 
remain there long, for the southern Turks, uniting 
with their former enemies, compelled them to move 
westward. This was the first migration. These 
southern people, in turn, were forced by the Mongols 
and Tungusians to disperse. 

The second great movement is known as the sec- 
ond westward migration, and its offshoots may still be 
found in both Asia and Europe. 

As is the case with all movements truly great, the 
people who were destined to rule the Turkish Empire 
were humble in their beginnings. Looking back 
over the centuries, a little time after the two migra- 
tions mentioned, we find among - the golden moun- 
tains of Altai a people slaves to the great Khan 
of the Geougen. This slavery, in the light of other 
events, must be considered not a misfortune but a 
blessing, for it proved a most excellent school for 
future conquest. Slavery is only a part of the early 
history of the race, but ignorance has ever char- 
acterized it. By employing these Turkish people 
in the manufacturing of arms the masters were 
achieving their own downfall, for the former became 
so skillful in their use that they soon severed their 
bonds, and established an empire under their spirited 
leader Bertezema. 



222 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

Much more than the allotted limits of this book 
would be required to portray, in its true glory, the 
grandeur of this early empire. We will simply state 
that this was an age of luxury and barbaric splendor, 
golden in fact and in figure. From the accounts of 
that earl)' 1 period, in which legend and history are 
mingled, we can obtain but a faint conception of pre- 
vailing conditions and manners. It is obvious, however, 
that there were no fixed habitations, but, as has been 
indicated, men preferred a nomadic life in valleys and 
mountains ; hunting and warlike exercises being their 
cherished occupations. This wandering life was so 
strongly developed into a national characteristic that 
even to-day we find the Turks chiefly engaged in 
pastoral and agricultural pursuits, while their neigh- 
bors, the Armenians, are largely devoted to commerce. 

The early home of the Turks, — Turkistan, — or cen- 
tral Asia, was known among the Persians as Turan, the 
" country of darkness " ; and the inhabitants as Tura- 
nians, " sons," or " people, of darkness." Their religion, 
prior to Mohammedanism, was made up of their ances- 
tral traditions and the doctrines of Zoroaster. They 
had their priests and worshiped fire, earth, and water. 
The laws and regulations were communicated to the 
masses by the chiefs of the tribes. In the middle of 
the seventh century, however, arose a force that was 
to have much to do in molding the destiny of more 
than one nation. The religion of Mohammed, coming 
out from the Arabian deserts, spread, through the zeal 
of his followers, with lightning rapidity, north, south, 
east, and west, until many Turkish tribes, converted 
from Zoroastrianism and kindred religions, accepted the 



THE TURKS. 223 

Islam faith, which proved to be a great unifying power. 
In following the fortunes of the people we are con- 
sidering, it is well to notice the influence of this great 
movement upon their national ideas and policy. One 
of the immediate effects was that, instead of becoming 
peaceful, as might have been expected, the Turks 
coupled zeal for conquest with such religious fanati- 
cism that every war became a crusade. 

The Seljuks were the first Turkish tribe to gain a 
place in history. They emigrated to Khorassan, under 
the leadership of Seljuk, from whom they take their 
name. Here, in a Persian province, they founded an 
independent sovereignty. The able princes Togrul 
Bey, Alp Arslan, and Malek Shah extended their 
empire at the expense of the weak Saracen Caliphate 
and the shrunken Byzantine Empire. Nowhere in 
Asia was such a succession of able leaders ever known. 
The heroic age of the Seljukian Turks corresponds 
with the Norman age in England. Persia, Armenia, 
Syria, the greater part of Asia Minor, and the region 
from the Oxus to the Jaxartes were conquered by 
them. Their greatest prosperity was under Malek 
Shah (1072-92), who extended his empire from the 
Caspian to the Mediterranean, from Khorassan to the 
Bosphorus. Aside from conquest, agriculture was fos- 
tered ; public works, such as canals, constructed ; and 
learning was patronized. Their astronomers approxi- 
mated closely to the accuracy of the Gregorian calendar 
in reckoning time. In religious zeal they were the 
most intolerant of all the Turks, and provoked the 
Crusades. Upon the death of Malek Shah, his realm 
was divided by his sons into three small kingdoms, 



224 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

which division, and the incompetence of the rulers, 
made easy the advance of the Mongol hordes under 
Zenghis Khan. This invasion, in turn, gave place to still 
another incursion by a tribe of Turks who were destined 
to found the Ottoman dynasty of the present day. 

The political career of the Ottoman Turks com- 
mences in the thirteenth century, when a band of fifty 
thousand nomads, driven out from central Asia by the 
Mongols, under the hereditary leadership of Suleyman 
Shah, penetrated via Persia into Armenia. 

One of the chiefs, Erthogrul by name, while wan- 
dering upon the plains of Cappadocia, aided Ala-ud- 
Din, the Seljuk Sultan, in his war against the Mongols. 
At the end of a successful contest, Erthogrul was re- 
warded by the grateful Sultan with small tracts of land 
in Byzantine provinces as a home for his people. This 
event gave prestige to the present line of sovereigns of 
the Turkish empire in western Asia, and serves as the 
connecting link between the legendary and verified 
history of this notable Turanian family. 

Erthogrul was yet alive when his son Othman, or 
Osman, the founder of the present dynasty, came forth 
in the annals of Turkish history, in fanciful vision sur- 
rounded with miraculous revelations and marvelous 
circumstances of birth. His sword is still worn by 
sovereigns at their coronation ; and from him the native 
surname Osmanli, and the European corruption Otto- 
man, have been derived. Modern Turks prefer and take 
pride in the term Osmanli or Ottoman, while the name 
" Turk " they consider a disparagement and an insult ; 
yet all Turks are not Ottomans. 

During the famous administration of Othman his 




BY PER. OF THE CHRISTIAN HERALD, NEW YORK. 

SOME OF THE SULTANS OF TURKEY. 



226 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

followers spread themselves on the Byzantine frontier, 
occupying the cities of Eski-Shehr and Kara-Hissar. 
The Seljuks, as fast as they were subdued, fused 
with the Ottomans. And so did great numbers of 
Christians, in the conquered states of Europe. As 
the two essential prerogatives of an Eastern sover- 
eign, Othman coined money and caused public prayers 
to be read in his own name (1301). He intro- 
duced the absolute ownership of land among his 
people. After a firm establishment of his power, Oth- 
man waged war against his old adversaries, the Mon- 
gol hordes, and drove them out of Kara-Hissar. It is 
alleged that he was of such a just and generous char- 
acter that the subjects of the East Roman emperor 
fled to his protection ; and it is commonly said that 
this wise and good man ruled after the former's death. 
Othman died in 1326, having a short time before fixed 
his capital at Brusa. 

Othman's younger son, Orchan, began his reign 
with such unusual attainments of imperial wisdom 
and tact that he even surpassed his father's bright 
achievements. As the first act of his reign he made 
himself independent of the weak Seljuk Sultan, and 
then he mastered a considerable portion of Asia 
Minor; for the mutual jealousies, and the religious 
and political demoralization of the provinces of the em- 
pire, had made them easy victims to conquest. His 
reign marked the creation of a most vital military organ- 
ization, that of the standing army. This new system 
came a century before the reign of Charles VII. of 
France, who is considered by the European historians 
of the Middle Ages the originator of that policy. 



THE TURKS. 227 

His celebrated guards were known by the name 
yeni-cheri, or janizaries, "new troops." Corps of 
spahis, or regular cavalry, were also organized. He 
married the daughter of the Emperor Cantacuzenus. 
As a potent advocate of science, art, and religion, he 
promoted the cause of public instruction, endowing the 
state with various educational and religious institu- 
tions, and was greatly esteemed by men of learning, 
who were admitted to his councils. His capital, Brusa, 
was made a center of light. Considering the age in 
which he lived, he should be placed among the most 
illustrious of Turkish sovereigns, as a competent leader, 
prompt executor, and wise legislator. During his ad- 
ministration the first invasion and settlement of the 
Turks in Europe took place, and the Crescent was 
planted across the Hellespont. 

Orchan died in 1359, and his second son, Murad, or 
Amurath, inherited both the crown and the military 
genius of his father. He strengthened his military 
corps, the janizaries, by recruiting it from youthful 
Christian captives, and dedicated them to the ser- 
vice of the court and army. The number and power 
of the janizaries were greatly augmented under 
succeeding sovereigns, and the greatest of Turkish 
conquests were achieved by them. Thus, the bone 
and sinew of the Ottoman troops — indeed, very often 
the greatest men of the Turkish Empire, while at 
the height of its splendor — were of Christian blood. 
While such a system of human tribute has served, 
in subsequent years, as one of the greatest sources 
of Ottoman strength, it was, on the other hand, 
an oppression most unbearable for Christian parents, 



228 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

from whose bosoms their infants were wrested and 
forced into the service of their oppressors. All at- 
tempts of unfortunate Christian parents to elude such 
a domestic desolation were of no avail. This sys- 
tem once in vogue, it was destined to continue for 
more than three hundred years ; and lads thus sun- 
dered from the sacred bosom of parental affection 
reached the colossal number of five hundred thousand, 
according to Von Hammer's estimate. 

Under Murad's administration the Byzantine Empire 
was so stripped that there was nothing left but a few 
adjoining lands around Constantinople, and some out- 
lying possessions in Greece and Macedonia. In 1365 
he captured Adrianople and made it his European cap- 
ital. His last famous contest, against the combined 
forces of Servia, Hungary, Bosnia, Wallachia, and 
Albania, was the famous battle of Kossova, in which 
the Sultan gained the victory with the sacrifice of his 
life. 

Bayazid, the Yildirim or " Thunderbolt," the son of 
M urad, was the first Ottoman ruler to assume the title 
of Sultan. He extended his conquests east and west. 
He besieged Constantinople for years, and the emperor 
was compelled to recognize his authority by paying an 
annual tribute. While Bayazid was engaged in the 
East, the King of Hungary, taking advantage of his 
absence, with a large army of European knights, be- 
sieged Nicopolis. The " Thunderbolt," arrived, how- 
ever, with his characteristic speed, and overwhelmed 
the besiegers, and, as a result of the contest, Bul- 
garia became a direct Ottoman province, while 
Wallachia became tributary. But Bayazid's brilliant 



230 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

career of European conquest was not destined to last 
long, for, while he was under the very walls of Con- 
stantinople, he had to hasten back to meet the 
Mongol Tartars, who, under the leadership of wild Tam- 
erlane, the Napoleon of Asia, after causing serious de- 
struction in Armenia, had penetrated into the Ottoman 
Empire. Near Angora the two determined hosts stood 
face to face in a furious battle (1402), in which 
Bayazid met his fate ; his country was conquered ; and 
he himself was carried into captivity, where he died. 
The frightful defeat of Bayazid, and the consequent 
eleven years' interregnum, threatened the very existence 
of the Ottoman Empire ; yet, in the middle of the same 
century, it became more strong and compact than 
before. 

It is needless herein to follow the administration of 
successive sovereigns. The sword of Othman de- 
scended, in the regular line of succession, through many 
generations, in the grasp of conquering Sultans. The 
brightest victory of the Turks was the capture of Con- 
stantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. This 
imperial city of New Rome was the jewel that all the 
Sultans most coveted, yet the honor of its conquest was 
reserved for Mohammed II., a man of signal bravery, 
who stormed the city and victoriously entered within its 
walls, in the year 1453. Early in the sixteenth century, 
through the conquest of Syria and Egypt, Sultan Selim 
the Inflexible received from the Sherif of Mecca the 
keys of the Kaaba, and Mohammed XII., last represent- 
ative of the Abbasside Caliphs, who reigned a purely 
spiritual prince at Cairo, had to surrender to Selim the 
right of succession to the Prophet and the distinctive 



THE TURKS. 23 1 

ensigns of the caliphate — the standard, the sword, and 
the mantle of Mohammed. 

Selim was succeeded by Suleyman the Magnificent. 
The reign of this great Sultan (from 1520 to 1566), 
which was the longest of any of the Ottoman sovereigns', 
was the high-water mark of the Ottoman power. He 
threatened to subjugate all Christendom. City after 
city had heard the clash of the Mussulman's arms and 
had been compelled to bow before his onward march. 
Having dealt a crushing blow to a greater part of Hun- 
gary, to the great alarm of entire Europe, Suleyman 
had besieged Vienna itself. However, soon after, the 
planting of the red flag before the walls of the Austrian 
capital marked the western limit of the Ottoman 
advance, for the Turk did not take the city, and farther 
into Europe the Crescent never found its way. 

At this time the Turkish Empire was the mightiest 
power in the world. Its possessions included all the 
Asiatic, European, and African countries situated on 
the Mediterranean, except France, Italy, Spain, and 
Morocco ; all the Black Sea coasts and nearly all of the 
Red Sea ; Hungary and all the kingdoms south of the 
lower Danube. Yet from this zenith of glory the em- 
pire began to decline, for here followed a line of weak 
and irresolute Sultans. The Ottoman navy, which was 
once the terror of the Mediterranean Sea, sustained a 
withering blow, in the latter part of the sixteenth cen- 
tury, from an allied fleet under Don John of Austria. In 
the succession of wars that followed with Austria, Ven- 
ice, Russia, and Poland, success and defeat were about 
equally divided on the field ; yet gradually the vitality 
of the nation was drained by continual carnage. Aus- 



232 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

tria no longer lived in continual dread of Turkish inva- 
sion, but took the offensive. European Turkey fast 
began to shrink in extent. Turkish power on the Dan- 
ube was destroyed ; and in 1699, by the treaty of peace 
of Carlowitz, Sultan Mustapha II. gave over almost all 
the Hungarian provinces to Austria, Azof to Russia, 
Moria and Dalmatia to Venice, and Podolia and Uka- 
raine to Poland. The causes of Turkey's decline are 
evident to those who are acquainted with the character 
of its later sovereigns. The Turkish saying that "the 
fish first stinks at the head" has been every whit true 
of the crowned heads of the Ottoman Empire since 
the death of Suleyman. With perhaps two exceptions, 
all the later Sultans were absolutely lacking in moral 
fiber. Shut up in the seraglio with their harem and 
favorites, they gave themselves up to the indulgence of 
their own follies and the gratification of their vicious 
appetites, utterly thoughtless concerning the welfare of 
their people and the prosperity of their country. As a 
matter of course, they neglected the discipline of the 
army and gradually abandoned the direct government 
of their empire. 

The Janizaries, the Ottoman right arm in war, lost 
all respect for their unworthy masters, and became the 
power behind the throne. They enthroned and de- 
throned the Sultans at their will. Military insubordi- 
nation and revolts — moreover, troubles and hostilities 
with the Christian states and provinces, by virtue of their 
superior advancement in wealth and civilization — as- 
sumed more and more alarming proportions. Once in 
a long while a wise ruler like Murad IV. arose and 
somewhat brightened the darkened political horizon of 




MOHAMMED II. WITHIN THE WALLS OF CONSTANTINOPLE. 
(From a painting?) 



234 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

the empire ; but, in the main, under incompetent sover- 
eigns, the Turkish government lapsed into a condition 
which went from bad to worse. As we have observed, 
all the Ottoman princes and Sultans down to Suley- 
man, with the exception of Bajazet II., were great rulers. 
True, they were most of them cruel and despotic, but 
they were resolute and brave ; they had integrity of 
purpose and strength of character ; they marched at 
the head of their own armies ; they made use of oppres- 
sion only when it was needed to carry out their plans of 
conquest ; they were stern, but did not altogether dis- 
regard common justice. The later Sultans were quite 
of another kind. They were a degenerate set in whose 
veins ran no noble blood. Inebriate, imbecile, incapa- 
ble, slaves of sensuality, and types of cruelty, they 
turned backward from the course which was set for them 
by the aggressive Sultans of former days, and set to 
enjoying the fruit of the earlier conquests. Thus they 
became consumers rather than producers, living on the 
conquered countries without bestowing any practical 
benefit upon them. 

THE PRESENT SULTAN, ABDUL-HAMID II. 

In the reign of Abdul-Hamid II., the present Sultan, 
are combined, by nature and environment, the elements 
of decay which have characterized the later rulers of the 
Ottoman Empire. 

" I maybe the last of the Caliphs, but never a second 
Khedive," declared this accomplished slayer and tyrant 
of mankind, when warned by the Russian ambassador, 
M. de Nelidoff, that the Sultan's obdurate course and 



THE TURKS. 235 

the condition of the Turkish Empire had placed the 
throne and the caliphate in imminent peril. Abdul- 
Hamid is, indeed, the least of the Caliphs, and doubt- 
less would have been the last of them, with the sec- 
ond- or third-rate power of a Khedive, had it not 
been for the mutual jealousies of the Powers, who 
had thought better to maintain a " Sick Man," or even 
a dead man, on the Bosphorus, rather than to allow a 
live man to take his place whose position might prove 
too lively for their keenest rivalry. 

Born in 1842, Abdul-Hamid II. came to the Ottoman 
throne August 31, 1876. Tragicwere the circumstances 
under which he was made Sultan. These very trage- 
dies had much to do with shaping his present policy. 
His uncle, Abdul-Aziz, was deposed and murdered. 
To add to this complication, some of the ablest minis- 
ters of the state were assassinated by Hassan Bey in 
revenge for their treachery to the late Sultan. War 
clouds were gathering black and heavy. Servia and 
Montenegro had gone to war; Russians were flocking 
to the Servian camp ; Constantinople was seething with 
revolutionary excitement. Sultan Murad, after three 
months of reign, was deposed and imprisoned. Then 
came Abdul-Hamid, with fear and trembling, to the 
perilous dignity of the tottering throne. It was 
the contention between the Old Turkey Party and the 
Young Turkey Party for supremacy in the affairs of 
the state that had sealed the fate of his two prede- 
cessors. The progressive Young Turkey Party had 
stood for a new order of things and for the regenera- 
tion of the Ottoman Empire, while the Old Turkey 
Party, ever hostile to all new ideas, stood for stagnation. 



236 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

This party held in abhorrence the very name of pro- 
gressive institutions, as inventions of giaours, for whom 
they had a whole-souled hatred. Abdul-Hamid had to 
identify himself with one of the two parties. For a 
while his brain became a sort of political insane asylum 
without any keeper. Then he asserted the supreme 
power of Islam, according to the Old Turkey Party, the 
results of which during his twenty-one years of reign 
have borne their legitimate fruits. The expectations 
and hopes of the Young Turkey Party were shattered, 
and the establishment of a constitutional government 
and parliament done away with. In one way or an- 
other, beginning with able Midhat Pasha, the chief ex- 
pounder of the constitutional government, the Sultan 
rid himself of all advisers whose ideas were opposed to 
the notions of unrelenting bigots and the flattering set 
of favorites of the Old Turkey party with whom Abdul- 
Hamid had surrounded himself. 

To-day, with all his powers of autocratic and theo- 
cratic absolutism, it is not Abdul-Hamid who rules, but 
his nondescript palace party, made up of chamberlains, 
private secretaries, mollahs, etc., in whose hands Abdul- 
Hamid is a mere puppet living in a malarious atmos- 
phere of corruption. This palace party, aside from 
making confusion in the foreign relations of the empire, 
has increased its influence in internal abuses, and 
they are responsible for the corruption, in the form of 
venality and perfidy, which has infected all ranks of offi- 
cial society throughout the empire. Aspirants for 
political offices and recognition eagerly seek the favor 
of these gentlemen of the royal household, and, in most 
cases, they literally sell favors to the highest bidder, ut- 





■■ ■'■' 
■ 

- 








SULTAN ABDUL-HAMID II, 



238 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

terly regardless of qualification. It is hard to reach 
the Sultan without their connivance. Under such con- 
ditions bribery flourishes, while the insolent hangers-on 
at Yildiz, whose main object in existence is self- 
advancement, speedily grow rich at the expense of 
the empire. 

Abdul-Hamid himself, like his father, Abdul-Medjid, 
is a great royal spendthrift, squandering untold treas- 
ures, careless of the needs and interests of an empire so 
long as his own pleasures are gratified. The number 
of his domestics is said to be six thousand, and is made 
up of imperial sword- and cup-bearers, mutes, dwarfs, or 
court jesters, eunuchs, pashas, beys, slaves, astrologers, 
sultanas, kadines, Circassian and Georgian odalisques, 
dancing women, etc. To cover the annual expenses 
of such a large household and table twelve million 
dollars is required. That the Turkish Empire is bank- 
rupt is a matter of course, and it simply exists by the 
mercenary sufferance of powerful creditors and by the 
perplexed nature of European politics. 

I have a very vivid recollection of my first view of 
the Sultan. It was an unusually cool and pleasant day 
in midsummer of 1889, when I started to witness the 
imperial pageant of Sclemlik — the Sultan's going to 
prayers. Upon my arrival near the Yildiz Kiosk, I 
found that almost every available inch of space between 
the mosque and the palace was filled with Turkish sol- 
diers and with people of every nation. Happily, I 
chanced to find a base- and ragged-looking Jew, who had 
come early and secured a high and commanding posi- 
tion above the heads of the soldiers. Nothing but the 
jingle of coins would induce him to give up his place. 




SULTAN ABDUL-AZIZ. 



240 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

With a few paras, and less parley, I succeeded in ex- 
changing places with him. He thought he had the best 
of the bargain, but I would not have given up the place 
for five times the amount I paid him. The new Mosque 
of Hamadieh, in which the present Sultan worships, is 
some eighty or one hundred yards from the palace, the 
Yildiz Kiosk. He rides to it, however, every Friday 
noon, in an elegant barouche, with all the pomp of 
elaborate ritual and imposing ceremony. From the 
palace to the mosque the streets are lined on either side, 
four ranks deep, with brightly uniformed regiments 
of gorgeous soldiers, representing every part of the 
dominion in their picturesque and varied uniforms and 
with their regimental banners. The roadway on which 
the Sultan is to drive is carpeted a half-inch deep with 
fine, clean sand. Pashas and beys, foreign ambassadors 
and diplomats, ministers and high dignitaries of state 
are all on hand in full regalia, with glittering uniforms 
and a profusion of gold lace and decorative orders, 
while magnificently mounted squadrons of lancers and 
cavalry are marching to position. About i.30 v p. m. all 
eyes are eagerly directed toward the Yildiz Palace, as 
it is time for the Sultan to appear. Then, high above 
the heads of the mighty throng, rings out from the 
slender minaret of Hamadieh the impressive voice of 
the green-turbaned muezzin. Presently the iron ga.tes 
of the palace open, and the Sultan emerges from his 
seclusion in an open carriage drawn by Arabian steeds, 
and dashes down the little slope that leads from the 
palace to the mosque. At sight of the Sultan the 
soldiers "present arms "and with one voice shout aloud 
three times, like the booming of a cannon : "Padisha* 



242 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

him chok yasha/" which means, "Long live my Sul- 
tan!" Then regimental bands burst out in martial 
music. Before the appearance of the Sultan's carriage, 
a few veiled women of his harem, young sons, and male 
relatives proceed to the courtyard of the mosque. In 
marked contrast to the gorgeous attire of the imperial 
princes and other high dignitaries, Abdul-Hamid is very 
plainly dressed in a black suit and a red fez. Nor is 
the contrast less marked between him and Osman Pasha, 
the hero of Plevna, a brave figure of hardy and robust 
manhood, who sits opposite the thin and pale Sultan in 
the royal carriage. After half an hour at prayer Abdul- 
Hamid reappears in an open landau. He takes the 
reins of the horses in his own hands, and drives back 
up the hill to the palace, while many courtiers follow on 
foot, to come to his aid if needed. Cheers and music, 
pomp and show follow him to the gates of his palace. 

This is one of the most gorgeous royal events of fre- 
quent occurrence in all the world. The Caliph of two 
hundred million Mohammedans, and the sovereign of 
thirty million subjects, attended not only by his own 
household, but by the brightly costumed ambassadors 
and consuls of all nations, appears to the public. 
Official horse-tails, which have led the way to victory 
or defeat on a thousand battle fields ; jewel-hilted 
swords, sashes, turbans, and fezes, worn by the males 
in line, even to the little boys on Arabian steeds, 
lend the charm of novelty to a pageant which, for 
mere magnificence, is seldom equaled under the sun. 

Abdul-Hamid is a small man, with a pale face and 
weak figure. He is aptly called "the Sick Man," for 
not only is his country "sick," in the sense of ruin 



244 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAlG. 

and decay, but the Sultan is really the most sickly- 
looking sovereign in Europe. It is said that he is 
always cross and continually in a rage. No wonder,, 
since he has so many wives to take care of ; for the num- 
ber of his harem runs up into the hundreds. His char- 
acter may best be judged by his acts, and certainly he 
has performed no good acts worthy, of notice. Mr. 
Gladstone speaks of him as " God's curse to mankind" ; 
while the Turkish journals of Constantinople, on his last 
birthday, January 19, with many flourishes of Oriental 
adulation, made it an occasion of raptured outbursts 
praising the goodness and beneficence of Allah for 
making the earth a present of such a sublime being as 
his Majesty the Sultan Abdul-Hamid II. "To-day 
the eyes of the good believers are blinded by the effect 
of this dazzling light of Islam, and their hearts over- 
flow with happiness," says Sabach — regardless of Chris- 
tian hearts that overflow with bitterness ; and, indeed, 
many Islam hearts, too, who have experienced the 
effect of their master's unspeakable tyranny. 

The Sultan's glittering palace on the Bosphorus is 
replete with associations of tragical events. From this 
abode o-o forth edicts which involve the massacre of 
many thousand Christians. Nevertheless, this titled 
criminal, whose career of bloodthirsty atrocity sur- 
passes that of Nero himself, is not without his punish- 
ment. Indeed, the life of a bootblack is happier than 
his. In constant dread of his life, he lives a prisoner 
within the walls of his palace. His walks and drives 
never extend beyond the park of the Yildiz, which 
is vigilantly guarded, even in broad daylight, with 
more care than any American penitentiary. His sleep- 




ARCH IN RUINS IN ASIA MINOR. 




THEATER IN RUINS. 



246 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

ing apartment is watched over at night with more cir- 
cumspection than the criminal cell of an ill-fated con- 
vict. When the Armenian atrocities were at their 
height, his uneasiness — indeed, his insanity — drove him 
to such unheard-of precautions as to change his body- 
guard every two hours. He would trust no one, even 
in the palace ; and woe to anyone who might fall under 
his suspicion ! One of his grand viziers narrowly es- 
caped, and fled to British protection. The ghosts of one 
hundred thousand Armenians seem to haunt him, even 
in his most secluded chambers. I can never forget my 
first impression of him, when he drove back to the 
Yildiz Kiosk from the Mosque of Hamadieh. . His black 
character was as indelibly stamped on his countenance 
as a seal on a governmental document. What a scared 
and hunted look on his thin face! and what a twinkle 
of treacherous cunning and cruelty in his deep-set 
black eyes ! He is a "sick man," and his contagious 
disease has so spread throughout the length and 
breadth of his unhappy empire that it will not be 
very long before the European doctors will pronounce 
her " dead," and proceed to the burial ceremony. 

The sluggish Turk, with his iron feet of destruction, 
treads on ground under which sleep, mute and silent, 
the Roman and Greek sires and sages of civilization. 
With a creed of bloody conquest and ruin, he has 
always marked his incursions by the destruction of 
everything and the building of nothing. Truly, as we 
gaze upon the dilapidated desolation of Ambition's airy 
halls, we find the saying true that " Wherever the Sul- 
tan's horses' hoofs tread, there the grass never grows 



THE TURKS. 247 

again." The glory of twenty nations, the seats of great 
military chieftains and empires, thriving commercial 
cities, palaces of fame and wealth, speak to the traveler 
in Asia Minor from their voiceless desolation of fiery 
hearts and gallant spirits that are no more. No longer 
do the skies of Ionia smile on the brilliant array of poets 
who sang beneath her azure arch. Over the graves 
of Homeric heroes roam sheep and oxen. The land of 
deathless sages has been plunged into thickest night 
of desolation and woe. The misrule of five centuries 
has not only erased the vestiges of the former inhabi- 
tants, but has also enslaved the existing population in 
impenetrable superstition and ignorance, and cradled 
them in a blind and most debasing fanaticism. The 
brutal tyranny and passion of the Turk have grown 
more deadly with every year that they have been tol- 
erated, until now, in our own day of boasted civiliza- 
tion, the smoke from his smoldering embers of crime 
arises in columns, to mar the holiness of God's earth. 

Oh, that the trumpet blast of the nineteenth cen- 
tury would awaken the slumbering soul of Christen- 
dom, and raise up a champion of freedom ! Would 
that this land of enlightenment might reflect a ray of 
light across the waters, where superstition and tyranny 
have for ages cast a gloom over the otherwise bright 
and peaceful world ! 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURKS— MOHAM- 
MEDANISM. 



"There is no God but God, and Mohammed is His prophet." 
— The Mohammedan Catechism. 

THERE is no other people in the world whose re. 
ligion forms such an important element in their 
national life as Mohammedanism forms in the national 
life of the Turkish people. So closely interwoven are the 
religion and the state that for a Turk to deny Moham- 
medanism is to renounce all claims to his nationality, 
and for a foreigner to become a Moslem is to become a 
Turk. To understand, therefore, in any degree the 
Turk and his country, a study of his religion is abso- 
lutely essential. 

The study of Mohammedanism, moreover, will cast 
light upon otherwise inexplicable aspects of Oriental 
government. The standpoint of its principles is the 
only one from which to survey the peculiar condition 
of the Turkish and kindred peoples, who are just now 
arresting the attention of the civilized world. 

Moreover, a view of this relioion will be found ex- 
ceedingly salutary in its broadening tendency, and also 
serve to clarify our ideas, as well as add to our appreci- 
ation, of the supreme features of Christianity. For 
this purpose, a survey of Mohammedanism has many 
advantages, because it has so much in common with 
Christianity, and because differences, apparently so 

248 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURKS. 249 

slight, have resulted in so great a contrast in the spir- 
itual power of the two religions. 

Naturally, a person's religious belief and loyalty are 
determined by birth, environment, and education. We 
embrace the religion of our fathers, and with it a cer- 
tain amount of bigotry, inherited and acquired. When 
such a truth is put to us in the nature of a specific 
charge, we, of course, deny it ; but a careful examina- 
tion attests its verity. We are more or less partial, 
narrow, biased, in our religious ideas, and are quick to 
condemn another system because it does not readily 
adapt itself to our accustomed cast of thought. 

Let us, then, place ourselves under Oriental skies, and 
for the time become right loyal Moslems, asking our- 
selves why these infidels and philosophers brand us 
heretics, and assign to our religion an inferior place. 

There is much misunderstanding among Christians, 
and the world in general, regarding the Mohammedan 
faith and worship. Especially among the Christians, 
ideas of Mohammedanism are inexcusably vague, and 
are consequently obstacles in the way to a correct under- 
standing of a religious force that has had no little part 
in the history of the world. 

If the follower of Christ will study the Koran ear- 
nestly, he will not fail to find many features that strik- 
ingly resemble the leading texts of his own faith. In- 
deed, he will be surprised to find that the religion which 
he formerly supposed to be the offspring of heathenism, 
abounding in superstition and folly, is pregnant with 
truths that have been inculcated into his own heart and 
life since childhood. 

And it is not difficult to discover a reason for the 



250 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

similarity. That Mohammedanism should resemble 
Christianity, and that the Koran should compare closely 
with the Bible, is only a natural outcome of the train- 
ing of the great Prophet. 

From his earliest years he was taught the Old and 
New Testaments, and regarded them with a love and 
respect which he did not withdraw in his old age, for to 
the last he spoke of the Bible as the word of God. 
Besides the direct influence of the Holy Scriptures, the 
surroundings of his household were essentially Chris- 
tian in character. His favorite wife embraced the 
teachings of Christ ; one of his other wives was a 
Jewess, and most of his highly esteemed counselors 
were of the Christian persuasion. All this could not 
fail to exert a powerful influence, and Mohammed man- 
ifested it in all his writings, paying homage to Christ 
to the last, and looking upon Him as the greatest of 
prophets. 

The question naturally arises, "If this is true, why 
did Mohammed seek to establish a new religion ?" 

He did not claim to be more than a man. Although 
his followers ascribe miracles to him, he did not claim 
to perform them, and even went so far as to denounce 
them. He fought not against the Bible, not against 
Christianity in its purity. He did, however, zealously 
attack Christianity as corruptly practiced by the people 
of his time. Moreover, he denied the divinity of Jesus 
Christ, and violently opposed the apotheosis of the 
Virgin Mary, whom the popular conception really re- 
garded as a goddess. In opposition to this, he advo- 
cated the absolute unity of the Deity, considering these 
other beliefs as impious and unworthy a Supreme Being. 



252 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

And, in the light of history, it cannot be doubted that 
in his position Mohammed manifested an elevated re- 
ligious nature and a purified vision. This idea of God's 
unity was an advance upon the crude conception of the 
time, as it was a reaction from the prevailing polythe- 
istic nations. Had this been all, Mohammed, so far as 
regards his conception of God, might still be honored 
as a Christian reformer instead of a prophet of a new 
order. But this was not all. With this idea of the 
unity of God was joined that of His supremacy, and 
that the most absolute. Fatherhood was foreign to 
any of His attributes. Above all, infinite, omnipotent, 
He was the very impersonation of Eternal Force. In- 
deed, some one has aptly described the Moslem religion 
as "a pantheism of will." In some of his aspects we 
are reminded of the God of Judaism; but even in 
Judaism we find a very important attribute which is 
absent from Islam's Allah, namely, that of justice. 
Islam's God is not a just God so much as He is an all- 
powerful God. He is the universal Sovereign, and 
obedience is the prime duty of his subjects every- 
where. 

Notwithstanding the oneness and supremacy of the 
God of Mohammedanism, there are other spirits, or 
angel-powers, which hold a subordinate place, and yet 
are essential to an understanding of the religion. Of 
these Satan, or Eblis, is not the least important, al- 
though not occupying a more conspicuous place than 
the Satan of Christianity. Gabriel and Michael are 
mentioned often in the Koran : they are the angels of 
power. Death is personified in the grim Azrael. And 
Israfel, " whose heart-strings are a lute," whose legend 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURKS. 253 

furnished Poe material for the beautiful lyric of that 
name, is the Angel of Resurrection. 

"In Heaven a spirit doth dwell, 

Whose heart-strings are a lute; 
None sing so wildly well, 

As the angel Israfel, 
And the giddy stars (so legends tell), 

Ceasing their hymns, attend the spell 
Of his voice, all mute." 

God brings himself into relation with his subjects in 
a number of different ways, sometimes through inspired 
prophets, and sometimes through sacred writings. Mo- 
hammed and his followers believed that he himself was 
to be the legitimate and final successor of Adam, Noah, 
Moses, Jesus, and other men, who were considered es- 
pecial ambassadors, chosen by the Almighty. The 
Pentateuch was not discarded, and the Psalms and 
Gospels were accepted as sacred books. But taking- 
precedence of all these is the Koran, said to be the 
personal product of the inspired Mohammed, in which 
he embodied his creed for his followers. 

It would be entirely foreign to the purpose of this 
sketch to make an exhaustive survey of even the 
prominent tenets of this, to the Moslem, book of all 
books. The curious as well as the accurate student 
we refer to the Koran itself, which, in a number of 
English translations, is interesting to read and profit- 
able to study. 

One of the prominent doctrines of the Koran is that 
of predestination, which is presented in its most abso- 
lute form. God has foreordained some to an eternal 
happiness in Paradise ; others are foredoomed to the 



254 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

everlasting torment of hell, and naught can intervene 
between the purpose of the Supreme Being and its 
eternal execution. 

The practical morality of the precepts of the Koran 
will not be questioned. Intoxicating drinks of all kinds 
are prohibited the true believer, and in the Orient the 
difference between precept and practice is not so very 
great. We also find gambling deprecated as a sin and 
proscribed by punishment. 

Mohammedanism, more than any other religion, has 
gained its proselytes by force of arms. It is only 
in keeping with the prevailing ideas of that religion 
that the true believer should hate infidels and discharge 
the God-like duty of making war upon them, even if 
connected by ties of consanguinity. To the Moslem, 
then, warfare is a religious duty and every crusade an 
aggression on behalf of Him to whom all men owe life 
and allegiance. To this principle may be ascribed the 
motives that impelled Mohammedans throughout their 
long career of bloody conquest. It was a natural out- 
come of what they conceived as a religious duty. 

Travelers in European and Asiatic Turkey have 
noted with admiration the devotional spirit of the 
faithful in their ceremonies and in the observance of 
feasts and religious holidays. Our Friday is the Sab- 
bath of Islam, when sermons are preached and prayers 
offered in all places of worship. On this day every 
Mohammedan is compelled to repair to the mosque 
and take part in the devout worship of Allah. Do not 
make the mistake of thinking that this is done merely 
as a stern, sterile duty ; rather is it thought a privilege, 
and, as we have intimated, the humble spirit of devo- 



256 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

tion is striking. A visit to one of these mosques on a 
quiet Friday noon would be an eloquent homily on the 
true spirit with which to approach the Almighty — a 
spirit so often sadly lacking in the Christian people. 

I have intimated the importance of the idea of God 
as influencing and molding a nation's religion. Look- 
ing back over history, we cannot but be impressed by 
the fact that culture and religion have ever exerted a 
reciprocal influence on each other. The peculiar con- 
ception which a people may hold of God determines 
not only its religion but its civilization. Looking at 
Mohammedanism from this point of view, what is the 
character of the civilization we should naturally expect 
as a result? What is the civilizing potency of Moham- 
medanism ? 

We have seen that the Moslem God is an imperson- 
ation of arbitrary zvill ; that he is synonymous with 
cold, loveless, authoritative supremacy ; that the first, 
last, and only duty of his subjects is slavish obedience ; 
in a word, that the idea of liberty, in any true sense, is 
practically excluded. Now, what is the first requisite 
of high civilization ? Is it not a consciousness of per- 
sonal independence, of liberty ? This principle has 
been at the basis of all great developments of individ- 
ual genius. Without it, in one form or other, no na- 
tion has ever really flourished and come to a high state 
of culture. 

The first point, then, that we observe is the utter ab- 
sence of the principle of liberty in the Mohammedan 
religion. 

If we look at the Islam conception of God from a 
moral standpoint, we find its effects just as baneful. 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURKS. 257 

The believer does right because Allah commands it, 
and because it is his to obey. This is placing moral 
obligation on a low basis — on no higher ground than 
the divine will. The doctrine of predestination, also, 
which is really a corollary of a pantheistic will, does 
away in a measure with man's free moral agency, and 
divests him of that attribute which, of all others, con- 
tributes to his nobility. Let it be remembered that a 
correct conception of duty and an appreciation of man's 
eternal responsibility are necessary to any advance- 
ment in morals, and that the character of a nation's 
morality is ever a reliable index to the worth and per- 
manence of its civilization. And it must be conceded 
that the Mohammedan conception is not entirely bar- 
ren of good. The recognition of God's supremacy ex- 
ercises a salutary constraint on those who perhaps would 
abstain from wrono- from no higher motive. Its influ- 
ence on the savage mind must not be condemned as 
evil, although there is surely little room for the devel- 
opment of the moral nature. The idea of the unity 
of the Godhead also precludes idolatry, and this is no 
small step toward the higher and truer life. 

Again, it will be conceded that a religion approaches 
perfection in so far as it proves itself adequate to man's 
complete nature. In its broadest sense, it exists for the 
elevation of the soul in all its functions, and a religion 
which suppresses any of these betrays its inadequacy, 
its weakness, and its imperfection. If it satisfy the 
reason to the exclusion of the heart ; if it minister to 
the higher emotions, with no deference to rational de- 
mands ; in short, if it is not as broad as man's nature 
and as high as man's loftiest aspirations, then that re- 



258 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

ligion is unworthy of humanity. Arraigned before such 
a tribunal, the unworthiness of Mohammedanism be- 
comes apparent. It does not teach the law of love as 
the basis of morality ; it does not believe in the father- 
hood of God or in the brotherhood of man. Love, 
which is the leaven of all human relations, is practically 
eliminated; and Mohammedanism, thus failing to call 
forth so essential a part of man's nature, must be con- 
demned. 

Christianity pleads : "God is love; trust Him." Mo- 
hammedanism commands: " God is ivill ; obey Him." 
Mohammedanism is sterile, barren, ai}d irksome in its 
principle ; Christianity is fruitful and permeating — a 
yoke that is easy, a burden that is light. The Christian 
God is in us and with us, and it is the delight of His 
children to breathe out their souls in prayer to Him. 

And here we are brought face to face with a strange 
fact. It is difficult to see what place prayer can possi- 
bly have in the Mohammedan theology, and yet we 
have previously spoken of the humble devotion of the 
faithful. However, we shall understand this perfectly 
when we remember that even prayer springs from obe- 
dience to Allah, and the devotion that has been so ex- 
tolled, like most of the liturgy, is a mere formalism 
arising from no love for, or higher yearnings after, an 
infinite Father. 

The effect of all these detrimental influences may, I 
think, be found manifested in the character of the indi- 
vidual Moslem. The despotic principle, which holds 
so prominent a position in Islam, seems to have infected 
society and government as well, for nowhere is tyranny 
more cruel and arbitrary than in the Mohammedan 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURKS. 259 

countries. The religious slave becomes the political 
slave also. 

Mohammedanism was born in the Orient, was the 
product of Oriental ideas, and has never ventured be- 
yond the Orient in permanent conquest. Yet the part 
it has played in history cannot but give rise to the 
double question : " Is Mohammedanism of divine 
origin ? Has its influence, on the whole, been for good 
or for evil?" These are not idle questions, and upon 
their answers hang solutions to many more important 
problems. If not to the supernatural, to what or whom 
can we ascribe its rapid inception and growth, its 
miraculous unifying power as exerted over a thousand 
warring Arab tribes ? To what can we ascribe its do- 
minion over two hundred millions of souls ? There is 
no one who will say that its influence has been entirely 
on the side of evil, or that it has not been a factor in 
the onward march of the race ; but I think it can be 
just as certainly asserted that its mission for good is at 
an end. For, while Christianity admits of almost infi- 
nite progress, Mohammedanism raises the devotees to a 
certain stage, and leaves them there, and is impotent to 
lift them higher. For, this reason, the future of Islam 
is limited. The race has reached that stage in its devel- 
opment when it can cast aside the useless shell of former 
growth and build " more stately mansions " for the soul. 

It may be interesting to add to these general obser- 
vations upon the underlying principles of Moham- 
medanism some description of a few of the peculiar 
ceremonies, beliefs, and religious practices which char- 
acterize the outward aspect of Islam. 

Mohammedanism is essentially a religion of form ; 



260 THE TURK AND the land op haig. 

hence the disciple of Islam does not thank God for 
past blessings or implore his protection for the future, 
though he rehearses his prayers ostentatiously five 
times a day. Islamism means submission ; hence the 
efficacy of the service is in the number of times the 
nemaz, or prayer, is said. Before worship a prepara- 
tory service of ablest, or ablution with cold water, is ob- 
ligatory. If this were not done in strict conformity 
with the established usage the subsequent prayers 
would be of no avail. 

In the courtyard of every mosque a large basin 
of water is provided, and the faithful, standing 
straight, and facing due north or south, advance in 
order to it, and say Bismillah, meaning, " It is in 
God's name I do this." The hands are washed to the 
wrist ; the mouth and nose three times ; then, begin- 
ning at the toes, the feet are washed to the ankles, 
after which the right hand is dipped gently into water 
and a part of the head is wet. The arms are washed 
to the elbows, beginning at the finger tips. Then the 
rest of the head is wet, the water being dipped up by 
the right hand. The inside of the ears must also be 
washed with the index finger of either hand, and the 
back of the ears with the thumb. So extremely exact- 
ing is this ritual that the slightest digression or omis- 
sion necessitates an entire repetition. Practice makes 
them expert, however, and they learn to do it quickly 
and correctly according to requirements. The cere- 
mony is repeated three times. Exemption is allowed 
where no water can be obtained, but the form must be 
gone through by touching the hands to dry earth, in- 
stead of dipping them into water. 



262 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

The time for prayers is regulated by the sun. Morn- 
ing prayer is said between dawn and sunrise. It is due 
to this requirement that Mohammedans are early risers. 
Noonday prayer is said just as the sun is passing the 
meridian, and afternoon prayer at any time between 
four and five o'clock. The fourth prayer comes at sun- 
set, and the last prayer of the day before retiring. The 
ritual for prayer is not optional but imperative, and 
its requirements of formality are as rigid as those for 
ablution. 

At almost every quarter of a mile in a Mohamme- 
dan city are built the mosques — solid', substantial build- 
ings whose minarets are the most beautiful spires that 
pierce the Levantine skies, symmetrical, lofty, and ma- 
jestic. They contain neither pealing chimes nor tolling 
bells, but five times daily from the top of these are 
heard the muezzin's ezan y or call to prayer, in deep, 
long-drawn tones, in the strange and impressive Arabic 
tongue : 

" God is almighty ! Mohammed is his apostle ! 
Prayer is better than sleep ! Hasten to worship ! 
Hasten to prosperity ! " 

The sacred voice rings from every minaret, until the 
sound goes around the Islam world, girding it with 
these never-ceasing vibrations, keeping it awake and at 
worship. The voice resounds in the highest pitch when 
it chants, with the threefold iteration, La ha-il- Allah ! 
— " There is no God but God." At this call all the 
faithful Moslems leave their engagements at once and 
hasten to worship, no matter how inclement the weather 
or how pressing their business. Their regular attend- 
ance and punctuality are bewildering to the Christian 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURKS. 263 

world. Would that we, who, by the Lord's resurrec- 
tion from the dead, have the highest incentive to the 
sacred observance of the First Day of the week, might 
take example from Mohammedan zeal! 

If a Mohammedan is late, he may at any time join 
with the congregation in the service, but the blessing 
to be obtained is deemed far inferior to what would 
have resulted had he been on time. Tradition says 
that a follower excused himself to the Prophet on the 
ground of saving his friend from drowning, at the time 
of devotions, and hoped that he would be blessed for 
the kindly act as well as those who were early at prayer. 
The stern Prophet would not accept the apology. 
" Though you had camels enough to fill the road from 
Mecca to Medina, all loaded with jewels, and should 
give the cargo to the poor, the blessings would not 
equal those of promptness at prayer. Should you 
commit the whole Koran to memory and repeat it 
twice every night, the blessings received would not 
equal those of beginning nemaz with the imam 
(priest). Should you kill all the enemies of Islam, 
the great rewards would not compare with those 
of him who is prompt at the beginning of prayer. If 
by a word the heavens and earth could become paper, 
the sea be turned into ink, and all angels stand as 
scribes, yet they would be unable to write all the bless- 
ings you may enjoy for beginning prayers with the 
imam? The Mohammedans are deeply conscious of 
all these warnings of their Prophet, and, though not 
"in spirit and truth," yet they worship according to 
their forms most faithfully. 

The interior of the mosque is considered most holy ; 



264 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

consequently, all the people take off their shoes as they 
step within the shrine, and go through a series of pious 
movements. The religion of "the Prophet," keenly 
hostile to pagan idolatry, forbids pictures, images, or 
any other representation of the human form in their 
houses of worship. On the walls, however, are many 
inscriptions from the Koran, with censers of burning 
oil suspended from the dome. 

The floor is beautified with the richest rugs of Ori- 
ental art, upon which the suppliants prostrate them- 
selves in their devotions, with twenty-six postures, 
each following the movement of the imam, rising and 
bowing simultaneously with almost military precision. 

While at prayer, certain acts, such as looking around, 
striking at a fly to kill it, raising a foot from the floor, 
scratching more than three times in one place ort the 
body, laughing loud enough to be heard, must be re- 
frained from, as they would destroy the efficacy of the 
devotions. 

The imam, who performs the devotional ceremonies, 
preaches no sermon, but at noon of each day he reads 
two chapters from the Koran, and then descends to 
mingle with the many worshipers, placing himself on 
a level with the common people. On Friday, however, 
the holy day of the Mohammedans, the devotions are 
conducted with unusual pomp and ceremony ; the Koran 
is recited, prayers are said, and generally a sermon 
preached. 

The language of the Mohammedans in Asia Minor 
is Turkish, but the Koran is written in the Meccan 
dialect of the Arabic, an unintelligible tongue to the 
masses, and only understood by a few of the best edu- 



266 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

cated. Yet their tradition teaches that merely to hear 
the sacred book read has a miraculous effect, bene- 
ficial to soul and body ; and so they are made content 
with the empty sound of meaningless words. 

Here let me take occasion to add a word as to the 
origin and extent of the influence of the Koran. The 
Koran, the groundwork of Islam, is divided into one 
hundred and fourteen suras, or chapters, originally 
written on " bits of stone, leather, thigh bones," and 
all sorts of material. After the death of Mohammed 
these scattered materials were collected, and, supple- 
mented by the Arab's retentive memory, they were put 
together regardless of time or subject, one chapter 
following another without even chronological sequence. 
Thus, while the teachings of the Koran are sufficiently 
plain, yet this manifest lack of logical order renders it 
of all books the least intelligible. But the Koran is 
not the whole of Islamism. There are traditions 
which are as powerful as, and even more respected 
than, the Koran itself. When there is nothing in the 
Koran to meet an issue, the Moslem would draw upon 
the oral laws of the Prophet on the basis of what 
Mohammed said, what he did, what he did not say, or 
what he allowed others to say unrebuked. In the six- 
teenth century Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent codi- 
fied the Moslem law in a volume of fifty-five books, 
which included, together with all the practices of wor- 
ship, the laws — moral, civil, political, judiciary, mili- 
tary, and agrarian. 

The Moslem's belief in a paradise beyond the grave 
is all that could be desired. The prayers that he has 
said will light up his grave as a lamp ; no sin will 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURKS. 267 

remain to be imputed to him at the resurrection ; angel 
wings will bear him aloft, and even should some sin 
remain through careless praying he still has a chance 
of escape, though he does not believe in purgatory. 
If he has children, their innocence will admit him ; and 
their grief at leaving their father behind will take him 
through the gates, Peter or no Peter! In eternity, 
the momentary pleasures of time are to be extended a 
thousand years, and once in Paradise he has but to 
express his wishes and they are immediately granted. 
His food is served on a golden plate, and the bones of 
the bird that has been devoured will again assume full 
plumage and fly away to sing as of yore in the leafy 
bowers. Wine, which is denied to the faithful here, 
will be abundant there, but will not intoxicate. The 
humblest in rank will have seventy-two virgins of 
immortal youth and angelic beauty to attend him. In 
brief, an ideal temporal paradise, based on the pleas- 
ures of earth, is to be magnified a thousand-fold 
beyond the utmost limit of even an Oriental imagina- 
tion to depict. Such is their Elysium. 

If the Mohammedan description of heaven abounds 
somewhat in sensual imagery, we should remember 
that it makes no essential difference how we describe 
the land of the hereafter, if only we make that. descrip- 
tion conform to our ideas of true and pure happiness, 
as all conceptions employing the material as symbols 
of the spiritual must necessarily fall short of the true 
glory of heaven. Whether we make it a city with 
walls of jasper and streets of gold, echoing to the joy 
of happy hearts, or see with tranquil vision an infinite 
paradise clothed with wonder and peopled with crea- 



268 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

tions of eternal love — neither is heaven : both are 
faulty metaphors, halting figures, imperfect symbols. 

If the rewards of fidelity are ideal according to 
sensual standards of pleasure, the punishments of the 
doomed are cruel to the other extreme, surpassing in 
horror Dante's best description of the Plutonic realm. 
The graves of this class are beds of hot coals, where 
the bones are piled one upon the other for want of 
room, and fused at white heat, without loss of the 
sense of feeling ; while thirst and hunger, with scourg- 
ings, will add the spice of variety to this roasting 
process, until the resurrection, when Satan will assume 
control and do as he likes with them for evermore. 

Here it seems evident that Mohammed's political 
and religious ideas were not without reciprocal influ- 
ence. He did not believe even in a hell-democracy ; 
the Jew-hell would not do for the Christian, and so he 
straightway orders a separate pit for him. Still, it can 
hardly be doubted that this arrangement is pre-emi- 
nently satisfactory to all concerned. Communism 
would be a failure even in the nether world. When 
the Koran proceeds in another place to speak of an 
intermediate state after death and a final resurrection 
and judgment, we are struck with an apparent, and 
only an apparent, inconsistency. Gabriel is represented 
at the soul's judgment holding scales in his hand ; on 
one side bad, and on the other good, actions are bal- 
anced against each other, and the incline of this scale 
becomes the forecast of the soul's destiny. 

The following brief description of Mohammed's 
traditional journey to Paradise may fittingly illustrate 
some of the singular ideas of Islam : 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURKS. 269 

The angel Gabriel appeared to Mohammed with an 
Alborak, a strange animal, a cross between an ass and 
a mule. This long-eared brute began to talk, demand- 
ing some concession from the new Prophet. Having 
promised the creature a golden stall in heaven, 
Mohammed was permitted to mount. In the twin- 
kling of an eye he arrived at Jerusalem, where, after a 
pleasant interview with the patriarchs and prophets of 
all ages, he ascended with Gabriel upon a ladder 
extending from the " City of David " to the " City of 
God." 

As he arrived at the portals of heaven he saw this 
large inscription on one side, "There is no God but 
God," and, on the other, " Mohammed is His apostle.'' 
The heavenly host being informed that Molfammed 
had come, at once the pearly gates were thrown wide 
open ; and upon entering he was quickly embraced by 
Father Adam, who was happy to meet his most illus- 
trious son. From this heaven the stars, which he 
described as being hollow silver balls, were suspended 
by golden chains. What would become of faith in 
Mohammed's visions if modern science were intro- 
duced among; his followers ! 

Quickly Mohammed was taken from the first to the 
second heaven, — a journey of five hundred years, — 
where he met the Angel of the Cocks, who was so tall 
as to reach from the first to the second heaven. 
Nearly every morning this big rooster joins God in 
singing a song that fills the entire universe with its 
melodious strains. Every being on earth hears them 
but man. In this heaven he met Noah, who was the 
presiding dignitary, and he was tendered a most 



270 THE TURK AND TPIE LAND OF HAIG. 

cordial reception as he passed through the golden 
streets. In the third heaven he describes the angels 
as being very large. One of the most gigantic 
required seventy thousand days' journey between the 
eyes ! Here, too, he found the same inscription as in 
the first and second heaven. After a short interview 
with Moses in the fourth, or emerald, heaven, he was 
taken to the fifth to meet Joseph ; then to the sixth 
heaven, of carbuncle, where he beheld John the 
Baptist. 

Radiant with light and ruled over by Jesus was the 
seventh heaven, in which he was attended by a vast 
multitude of joyous inhabitants and innumerable 
angels of dazzling beauty, each one of whom possessed 
seventy* thousand heads, with seventy thousand 
mouths to each head, and seventy thousand tongues to 
each mouth — all singing and singing, day and night, 
unceasingly. Here the Prophet, with glorious pomp, 
was presented to God, whose face was concealed by 
seventy thousand veils. Here, too, on the sides of the 
divine throne, Mohammed beheld the inscription, 
"There is no God but God," and, on the other, 
" Mohammed is His apostle." God, after saluting 
Mohammed, commissioned him to return to earth with 
full authority. All this the faithful most firmly believe. 

Charity is prescribed by the Koran for the faithful 
in two forms — voluntary and compulsory. The latter 
amounts to the fortieth part of his possessions, but it is 
only imposed when the property aggregates a certain 
sum. Voluntary charity is usually dispensed at the 
time of the feast following; the annual fast. 

The pilgrimage to Mecca, as a pious duty, is believed 



272 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

to secure certain inestimable privileges for all who can 
possibly make the trip. Nothing could test faith more 
than this long and tiresome journey. All the world 
has heard of the vast concourse there annually assembled 
from all parts of Asia, Africa,, and Europe. At that 
time every highway leading to the sacred Kaaba is a 
field hospital of the sick and dying, and in the general 
lack of physicians and nurses, when cholera prevails, as 
it usually does, Mecca becomes the disseminating point 
for the plague. 

Honors are bestowed on the survivors of the 
hazardous ordeal of this journey, and they are addressed 
by the title hadji. Among the Armenians, the same 
title is applied to those Christians who have visited 
Jerusalem. These Christian hadjis usually have a 
small cross tattooed on the hand to indicate the 
fact that they have made the pilgrimage to the Holy 
Sepulcher. 

Mohammed has declared that he will not intercede 
in heaven for unmarried men. So marry you must, or 
take your chances ! Remember Mohammed, old 
bachelors and old maids, or you will be miserable in 
this world and in the world to come! The Prophet 
would have them bring up large families, that his 
followers may outnumber all others in Paradise. The 
widows actually pray, " Let me be married before I 
die, that I may not be ashamed when I meet Allah ! " 
Allah will reward the parents of children, those who 
pay the debts of another, and the soldiers in holy 
wars. 

Like other religious institutions, Mohammedanism 
has its holidays, feast and fast days. The most impor- 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURKS. 273 

tant of these is the holy month of Ramazan, a month 
of fast and penitence. The fast cannot begin until the 
new moon has been seen. In cloudy weather messen- 
gers are sent to the peaks of mountains, and, they hav- 
ing ascertained the appearance of the moon, the Sultan 
telegraphs to all parts of the empire for the fast to 
begin, and local announcement is made by the firing of 
cannon at sunrise. From the rising to the setting of 
the sun, for the entire month, no food or drink may 
pass the lips, not even tobacco. Indeed, some go to 
such undue rigor as even to abstain from conversation 
for fear of taking too much air into their mouths, and 
thus breaking their fast, in which case they would have 
to keep the sixty subsequent days. 

Even the touch of a Christian is avoided during 
Ramazan. As every physical enjoyment is proscribed 
but sleep, devotees sleep nearly all day, except when at 
worship. " God bless the man who first invented 
sleep." Those wandering in the streets are like mad- 
men, so that Christians do well to keep out of their way. 
The asking of questions by " infidel dogs " is promptly 
rebuked. The law is paralyzed, the fact that they have 
all been fasting being a sufficient excuse for all sorts of 
wicked performances. Business is at a standstill, and 
fanaticism has full sway. 

At home, on every day of Ramazan, toward even- 
ing, with food prepared, all await the signal cannon. 
At sunset the minarets are illuminated, the cannon is 
fired, and, at the muezzins call from the slender spires, 
the fasting is suddenly changed into feasting. Night 
is virtually turned into day. There is a hasty scramble 
for something to eat, and excessive eating, dancing, 



2/4 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

and singing continue until late in the night. This fast 
and feast are held in honor of the time when Mohammed 
claimed that God revealed the Koran to him by His 
archangel. Moslems believe that Abraham, Moses, 
and Jesus also received divine revelations during this 
month. 

Some traditions attribute this celebration to another 
event. One day when Mohammed was wandering in 
the desert one of his camels fled. Poor Mohammed 
pursued all day, without eating or drinking, and captured 
it about sunset. Mohammedans are not certain which 
day of the month this occurred, so in order to make 
sure they celebrate the whole month. 

The green-turbaned Turks are the descendants of 
the prophet Mohammed, through his daughter Fatima, 
who married Ali, the faithful disciple. They are known 
as Emirs, and enjoy religious and political preference. 
Having a chief of their own, who is a sovereign among 
them, even to the infliction of punishment, they form a 
religious institution perpetuating the spirit of Islamism, 
as the janizaries in their day kept up the military spirit 
of the empire. 

Besides these, there are several other peculiar 
Mohammedan orders. We shall first describe the 
Dervishes. The Dervish is an historic figure, with 
many orders, the first one having been founded thirty- 
seven years after the death of Mohammed. There are 
different classes, itinerant and local, asceticism being 
the most distinctive feature of almost all the different 
orders. As a religious body they are held in great 
veneration by the Moslem public everywhere, and their 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURKS. 275 

influence in stimulating the religious fanaticism of the 
Islam troops in times of war is considerable. 

By far the lowest in the ofder of Dervishes is the 
religious beggar. On many occasions, always to the 
satisfaction of my intense curiosity, I have visited the 
haunts of these degraded creatures. With the maxim, 
" Poverty is my glory," they live a hermit life, some- 
what after the fashion of their Prophet, or, indeed, more 
like the Grecian philosopher Diogenes, with no care in 
life but to find a place to sleep and something to eat. 
Their abodes, in deserted quarters of the city, or in 
mountain caves, are destitute of furniture, and those of 
the most rigid devotees have not even bedding or a 
cushion. In personal appearance they are the most 
hideous-looking beings in the world. They wear 
sheepskins, and have their whiskers and hair hanging 
down over their faces and shoulders. They almost 
always carry sharp hatchets in their hands for protec- 
tion, and go begging in the bazaars, and praying in the 
streets in Arabic. Cut off from all family associations, 
their lives are entirely sanctified to their so-called mo- 
nastic institution. 

Mevlevi, or Dancing Dervishes, are very graceful, 
and entirely different from those above described, in 
manner, dress, and principles, and are more human 
in personal appearance, though at times quite frantic in 
action. They are generally found in octagon-shaped 
tekiehs, or chapels, with polished floors, and wear 
close-fitting suits, with loose petticoats, and conical 
hats of grey felt. After the Koran is expounded, the 
usual nemaz recited, and kisses exchanged, the grace- 
ful spinning begins under the leadership of Semar Zan, 



2j6 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAlG. 

director of the performance. Arms are crossed on the 
breast, with hands on the shoulders. Slowly at first, 
then faster as they warm up, the arms and skirts are 
extended, and, to the strange tune of the flute music, 
they move around and pass one another, but never 
touch. With brains crazed by the delirious dance, 
steadily the spell increases until the climax is reached, 
when it decreases to the finish ; about one hour being 
the time for a single dance. 

Not less curiously interesting are the rifai, or Howl- 
ing Dervishes — demons of religious fanaticism, who, in 
a shell of a building decorated with spikes, chains, dag- 
gers, and like implements of torture, excite themselves, 
and, swinging backward and forward in circles, repeat 
all the names of God, accompanied with the awful cry 
of La-il-la-il / Hoo-yah-Hou ! Beads of perspiration 
form on the face, which is distorted as if by mental 
anguish. Foaming at the mouth like madmen, they 
proceed, with the fearful energy of deep fervor and 
rapture, to cut themselves with knives, swallow swords 
and fire, pierce their ears, burn their bodies, until, all 
the physical powers overcome, they swoon and fall 
bleeding to the floor. Two elder devotees will calmly 
approach the skeik, witli whisperings of sacred words, 
and have a skewer thrust through the cheek. You 
may examine and see that there is no legerdemain. 

Islam is not lacking in sects. Indeed, they are in- 
numerable, with infinite shades between them. But 
there are two great divisions, known in the Moslem 
world as Sunnites and Shiites. Sunnites, by far the 
greater in numbers, follow the first three Caliphs after 
Mohammed ; while the Shiites, chiefly confined to 




A DERVISH BEGGAR. 




DANCING DERVISHES. 



278 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

Persia, regard these as illegitimate, and commence 
with the caliphate of Ali, Mohammed's nephew. This 
sect represents the climax of Mohammedan fanaticism. 

While in Constantinople in 1889, during- the month 
of Ramazan, I was permitted one night to witness the 
horrible religious celebration of this sect — an awful 
night, never to be forgotten ! With the purpose of 
obtaining merit and forgiveness, for admittance to 
Paradise without examination, the Persian devotees 
appeared in a procession at night, clothed in robes of 
white and armed with swords, iron chains, and other 
weapons of torture. Long before the spectacle was 
sighted in the distance, the streets were surging with 
thousands of clamorous men and women of every 
nationality and type, in eager anticipation of the death- 
foreboding pageant soon to come. Then, from a huge 
building, with unearthly tumult, and amid a profusion 
of lights, the devotees burst out into the streets in the 
midst of the many spectators, and moved, step by 
step, in a circle, amid wild, roaring wails of " Hassan ! 
Hussein ! Hassan ! Hussein-Shah ! " 

They inflict ferocious wounds upon their bodies, 
some mutilating themselves with clubs and iron chains, 
many gashing their heads and throats with knives. It 
is the most horrible spectacle ever presented by a 
group of savage mortals, the body losing all semblance 
of humanity and assuming the aspect of a hideous 
monster. Hassan and Hussein, murdered twelve cen- 
turies ago, arise that night, and claim the active 
sympathy of their followers, with fresh blood. Ears, 
eyes, hands, arms, head, throat, and abdomen are not 
considered too dear to be sacrificed in this demon-like 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURKS. 279 

exhibition of religious frenzy. As the blood pours out 
in streams, sobbing cries of " Hassan ! " and " Hus- 
sein!" go on in varying tones and inflame the entire 
assembly. 

My very soul shuddered and recoiled with horror as 
I gazed upon faces bathed with the blood and sweat of 
extreme torture. Many keep step more and more vio- 
lently with the wild performance, until, overcome by 
exhaustion, they lie gasping for breath, some never 
again to stagger to their feet. Some women, moved 
by the agony of the scene, fainted away. Who could 
look on such a scene unmoved ? 

Before this awful sight we close our eyes, and the 
hardest heart turns sick and faint, while in anguish of 
despair the soul cries out, " O God, is Thy light 
powerless to penetrate the midnight that hangs pall- 
like over benighted people of Thine own creation?" 
And, peering through the darkness, Hope sees the 
glimmering of a star, the morning star, bespeaking 
a larger light, before whose powerful rays this awful 
night of ignorance shall flee forever. 

Beholding this Mohammedan paroxysm of self- 
torture, the oft-repeated question echoed in my ear 
with more emphasis than ever, " Why art thou a 
Christian ?" and my soul answered: " Because God is 
love. His religion is a religion of love, a religion of 
peace. No more sacrifice, for Christ suffered for all 
our transgressions, and we are free from all penalty. 
We are not required to commemorate His blood with 
ours, but to follow the path of eternal life and happiness 
which He has opened for us through His own death. 
He died for us ; we live for Him." 



280 THE TURK AND THE LAND OP HAIG. 

As regards the theoretical and doctrinal aspects of 
Islam, a cursory observer finds much that is to be 
commended ; yet the careful student of its true spiritual 
influence, particularly in the light of the present situ- 
ation in Armenia, finds much that is to be condemned. 
This may best be seen by a comparison with the 
Christian doctrines and practices. Of all the religions 
of the world, Christianity and Mohammedanism . are 
the only two missionary and aggressive faiths, for they 
both seek to make converts ; but their methods are as 
diverse as the characters and ideas of their founders. 
The one does it by the cross and love, the other by 
hatred and the sword ; one by assimilation, the other 
by subjugation. The theme of Christendom is mercy, 
loving-kindness, and charity ; that of Islam, blind sub- 
mission enforced by tyranny. The article of faith or 
the official prayer of Islam, which is used throughout 
Turkey, and daily repeated in the Azhar University, at 
Cairo, by ten thousand Mohammedan students from all 
lands, is the following : 

O Lord of all Creatures! O Allah! Destroy the infidels and 
polytheists, thine enemies, the enemies of the religion! O Allah! 
Make their children orphans, and defile their abodes! Cause 
their feet to slip; give them and their families, their households 
and their women, their children and their relations by marriage, 
their brothers and their friends, their possessions and their race, 
their wealth and their lands, as booty to the Moslems, O Lord of 
all Creatures! 

Can a Mussulman, with consistent loyalty to such 
religious principles, tolerate those of unlike faith ? The 
massacre of Christians or all others of unlike faith is 
not only an obligation, a patriotic duty, but the only 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURKS. 28 1 

mode of religious revival with him. The memory of 
devastating wars waged by Mohammed ; the atrocious 
cruelties perpetrated by his followers upon those of 
unlike faith ; the fact that polygamy exists and was 
sanctioned by the Prophet himself — all conspire to 
breed an antipathy within us that is not wholly 
unjustifiable. The commands of the Koran in regard 
to methods of warfare do not warrant any admonitions 
deprecating cruelty in any form ; in fact, with the 
watchword, " The sword is the key to heaven and 
hell," its soldiers have ever been the concrete expres- 
sion of fiendish brutality. 

From the time of Mohammed's triumphant march 
from Medina to Mecca, at the head of an army ten 
thousand strong, through the years when the "sand 
of the desert, converted into explosive powder, blazed 
heaven-high from Delhi to Granada," to this very day, 
when his Turkish devotees, with uplifted scimitar, 
transform the homes of peaceable Christians, from 
the Euphrates to the Bosphorus, into a wilderness of 
blood and fire, the career of Islam has been one con- 
tinuous and desolating tidal wave of bloodshed, out- 
rage, and rapine in the name of Allah and the 
Prophet. 

True, it cannot be said that Christendom has been 
more humane in her warfare and religious persecutions 
in the past ; but it must be remembered that the 
Christendom of to-day is not the Christendom of the 
past, while the Islamism of to-day is the Islamism of 
the past. The evolution of centuries has widened 
the religious as well as the intellectual horizon of 
Christians into clearer and more charitable ideas of 



282 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

the true interpretation of Christ's teachings of peace 
and universal brotherhood. Christians have reformed, 
for the principles of their religion ever teach them to 
reform; while the Moslems have not, and, in truth, 
they cannot reform, for the principles of their religion 
forbid reformation. 

That the Turks, like all Mussulmans, are sincerely 
devout in making their religion an essential part of 
their daily life cannot be refuted, yet it appears that 
this very-overdevotion to a deluded and tyrannical 
faith makes them the most relentless of religious 
persecutors. But one need not go to the Dark Ages 
of the past to find a parallel for the incorrigible 
Moslem Turk's astounding inhumanity. I suggest 
the present deplorable condition of my native land, 
Armenia, where all the sacred relations of father, 
mother, wife, and child are trampled beneath his brutal 
feet, and one hundred thousand of my countrymen have 
suffered the most agonizing deaths by fire and sword. 
Nor is the Armenian crisis the only record of the 
Turk's religious fanaticism in the present century. 
In 1822 Greek Christians, to the number of fifty thou- 
sand, were put to the sword in the island of Scio. 
In 1850 Nestorians were butchered with such barbarity 
that the mountains and plains were covered with "the 
scattered bones, bleached skulls, long locks of hair 
plucked from the women's heads, and torn portions of 
the garments they had worn."* In i860 Syrian Chris- 
tians were killed, and Lebanon and Damascus "ran 
with human gore, in which men waded ankle deep " ; f 

* See Layard's "Nineveh." 

f See Van Lennep's " Bible Lands ; Their Modern Customs and Manners." 



THE RELIGION OF THE TURKS. 283 

and twenty-one years ago fifteen thousand Bulgarians 
were massacred in cold blood within a few days. 

As we pursue the career of such a heartless religion, 
so infernally atrocious in theory and practice, our 
pained hearts cannot help but exclaim, " How long. 
O Lord, how long!" May we not confidently cherish 
the hope that the shining cross of the humble Nazarene, 
that has conqueringly risen above the powers of dark- 
ness and tyranny, shall sooner or later, as its final 
achievement, triumph over the blood-red crescent of 
Mohammed ? 



THE TURKISH GOVERNMENT. 



"The Sultan's Empire is being rapidly brought to destruction; 
corruption has reached a pitch that it has never before attained. 
The service of the state is starved while untold millions are 
being poured into the palaces; and the provinces are being ruined 
by the uncontrolled exactions of the governors, who purchase 
their appointments at the palaces; and nothing can save the 
country but a complete change of system." — Midhat Pasha, 
ex-Prime Minister of the Ottoman Empire. 

LIKE most political institutions, the Turkish govern- 
ment of to-day has been the product of a gradual 
development ; arrested and contorted as it may have 
been at certain eras of its growth. In order that we may 
gain even a superficial idea of the government of Turkey, 
k will be wise for us to go back some centuries and 
imagine the condition of those days when it first exer- 
cised its simplest functions. We find the Turks in the 
midst of a mighty career of conquest. The people of 
Asia Minor and of eastern Europe are gradually being 
forced to acknowledge the sovereignty of advancing 
armies, whose right there is little heart or means to 
contest. To attain such a sovereignty, and to retain it, 
are two different problems, of which the latter is by far 
the more complex and the less likely to be solved ; 
especially when the conquered are comprised of het- 
erogeneous nationalities, with ideas entirely different in 
matters pertaining to religion and the state. This prob- 

284 



THE TURKISH GOVERNMENT. 285 

lem the great Alexander attempted on a much larger 
scale, and failed — because he was mortal ; and this prob- 
lem the conquering Turks were compelled to face, and 
they solved it — in their way. 

The government of this time was necessarily nomadic 
and, therefore, military in its nature. Accordingly, it 
was imperative to its strength and effectiveness that 
power should be centralized as much as possible, and 
this was accomplished by the inception of a sort of 
feudal system. Under this system the titles of the 
territory, as fast as it was conquered, were distributed 
among the most worthy of the soldiers, who, in turn, 
were placed under obligation to furnish a certain quota 
of armed men for the service of the state. It is almost 
needless to add that a grant of this kind was esteemed 
a prize and was the effective means of stimulating 
many to noble deeds and valiant sacrifice. 

The smallest variety of fief or grant was the timar, 
comprising from three hundred to five hundred acres. 
In times of war the "cavalier," or owner of a timar, 
was bound to supply one armed horseman for every 
three thousand asj>res of its revenue. Grants of five 
hundred acres and upward were called ziamets, and 
the very largest fief was the beylik. 

That this system might be the more effectual, these 
lands were assigned to districts, each containing a certain 
number of grants. Over such a district was appointed 
an officer with the dignified insignia of a horse's tail. 
Yet the office of Sandjak-Bey was no mean one, and 
he had some thousands of cavalry placed at his com- 
mand. Though unaccompanied by many of the civi- 
lized results with which the feudal system was followed 



286 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

in other portions of Europe, this same system was 
admirably suited to the exigencies of the times. It 
afforded the head of the nation ample means for 
quelling insurrections, and, indeed, insured a loyalty 
such as no other plan we are able to conceive of could. 

We have been considering the government simply 
in its policy, with no regard to its composition and 
inner principles; and, in approaching this latter phase, 
we will anticipate, from what has been said, that 
its functions were largely discharged by men of 
military ability. Indeed, should we peruse the Insti- 
tutes of Mohammed II., we should find the government 
of those days explained in a military metaphor — that 
of a tent and the four columns which were its support. 
And I think it best, because of the quaint simplicity of 
the figure, to adopt it in this short sketch, which is 
likely enough to suffer for want of perspicuity. This 
figure may be made to "stand on all fours" without in 
the least destroying its usefulness. 

The first pillar, then, supporting the fabric of the 
state, was represented by the viziers, or " bearers of 
burdens." At the time of Mohammed II. these were 
four in number. The Grand Vizier, who was a sort of 
minister of state and an executive officer, was, next to 
the Sultan, the highest personage in the empire. To him 
was intrusted the imperial seal, and his was the privi- 
lege of presiding over the " Divan," or Council of the 
Realm, in the absence of the Sultan. Perhaps the 
highest function he enjoyed was the convoking of this 
council in his own tent whenever he deemed it neces- 
sary. The second pillar was represented by two mili- 
tary judges called cadiaskers, who, with their subordi- 



288 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

nates, constituted the legal order of the empire. The 
authority of one was confined to Europe, that of the 
other to Asia. Immediately beneath them in rank were 
the tutor to the royal princes and officers called mufte. 
The duty of these mufte was to expound the sacred 
law, and their persons were considered so sacred that 
not even the Sultan was permitted to put them to 
death. Yet this restriction was of no value, as the 
Sultan could depose them from their positions at his 
pleasure, and then execute them as he could any other 
subject. In this legal order was also included the Judge 
of Constantinople, whose office was created somewhat 
later than the others we have mentioned. The third 
pillar, a golden one, yet strong and indispensable, 
was the deftarders, officers of the exchequer ; and 
last came the secretaries of state, or nischandyes, with 
whom the figure is complete. 

The "Sublime Porte," which has long designated to 
the world the Turkish government, is an expression 
whose origin is also intimately connected with the idea 
of the tent from whose lofty gate, or, in Italian, La 
Porta Sublima, the rulers of old gave forth their 
decrees. Of course, at the head of all the political frame- 
work we have delineated, reigned supreme that arbi- 
trary monarch, the Sultan. 

We have said that the Turkish government is a 
growth. Perhaps we should have stated it more accu- 
rately had we said that it is a modification, for, with 
some few changes and complications, the government 
of to-day is in principle the same as that of three or 
four centuries ago ; so that, understanding the latter, it 
will be comparatively easy correctly to comprehend the 



THE TURKISH GOVERNMENT. 289 

present system. And first, there has been some change 
in the political divisions of the empire. In the six- 
teenth century the saujaks, or groups of grants, which 
we have described, were made into still larger districts, 
called eiatels. The tendency toward centralization, 
which was before a desirable thing, soon became an ob- 
stacle to effective administration, and the central gov- 
ernment was not long in discovering that farther divi- 
sion of labor was eminently necessary. Various 
alterations were made in the system at different times, 
but with little result until 1864, when these eiatels be- 
came separate governmental centers, designated by a 
new name, vilayet. The vilayet is to-day what might 
be called the political unit of the empire, and possesses 
some degree of independence, although directly tribu- 
tary to the laws of the whole country. The head offi- 
cers are the vali and his assistant muarin, both 
appointed by the Sultan, to whom they are directly re- 
sponsible. Of course, these dignitaries are aided by 
their secretaries, who direct the work of the several de- 
partments over which they are placed by imperial nom- 
ination. 

The governors of the sanjaks, the subdivisions of 
the vilayets, although appointed by the Sultan, are con- 
sidered as representatives of the vali, from whom they 
receive their instructions. The next subdivision is 
the kaza, or district, whose governor is in turn ac- 
countable to the head officer of the sanjak. Again, 
the kaza is divided into nahiehs, or subdistricts, com- 
prising houses to the number of two hundred. The 
inhabitants of these nahiehs have the usual privilege 
of electing their own mudir and muavin, subject, how- 



29O THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

ever, to the confirmation of the vali of the district. 
The election is not free from religious considerations, 
and the religious complexion of the majority determines 
the fate of the nominee. The very last division, the 
minimum visible, as it might appropriately be called, 
is that presided over by the head man of single 
villages, the codja basJii, or kehyah, as he is vari- 
ously called. His powers are very limited, and he is 
almost entirely an instrument of the mudir. Yet it is 
a rule of local self-government that the people must 
hand their taxes over to a representative from their 
own number rather than to a collector directly from the 
Sublime Porte. In all these instances the directing 
officer is aided in his administration by appropriate aids 
and by an Administrative Council, a permanent organi- 
zation. We may the better comprehend the position of 
all these officers if, on the basis of the feudal system, 
we conceive of each as holding a "fief of responsibil- 
ity," for which he is directly accountable to the one next 
higher in rank. 

The vali has direct control over sub-governors and 
all the employees of the vilayet. Invested with such 
a power, should his tendencies be for corruption and 
evil, as they generally are, he has the best opportunity 
and the most unlimited power to gratify them, for he 
has the entire official body of the vilayet under his 
control ; and if a sub-governor has the courage to op- 
pose him, it is so much the worse for the sub-governor. 
Nor is this the entire extent of the vali's jurisdiction 
and influence. He has the general oversight and man- 
agement of all the taxes and revenues, and is also the 
commander of the military forces of the vilayet. And 



292 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

with such unlimited authority, he can generally influ- 
ence the courts of justice as he chooses. 

The supreme head of the empire, the Sultan, who 
moves the machinery of the administration as the vice 
regent of God upon earth and as the Caliph, or suc- 
cessor of Mohammed, has an authority unknown else- 
where in the world. To recount his powers would be 
a hopeless task. He is omnipotent, and all things pro- 
ceed from and revert directly or indirectly to his sover- 
eign will. His word is absolute for life or death. A 
few restraints have been forced upon him from time to 
time, but even these are more fictitious than real. The 
people at large have no choice as to their ruler, for the 
office is hereditary, and the succession belongs to the 
oldest male relative, not to the eldest son, as might 
naturally be presumed. The executive and legislative 
authority, under the supreme direction of the Sultan, 
is exercised by two dignitaries, the Grand Vizier, who 
is the head of the temporal government, and the Sheik- 
ul-Islam, the head of the church. 

The Grand Vizier, one of the oldest pillars of state, 
has lost none of his power, and is accountable to no 
one save the Sultan, by whom he is appointed and in 
whose name he acts. It is still his privilege to preside 
at the Medjliss-i-Hass, or Privy Council, in the Sultan's 
absence, and wherever he is there is the Sublime Porte. 
We shall understand somewhat his significance if we 
remember that it is he who nominates to almost all the 
important offices. To this function is added that of 
commander-in-chief of the army, which, however, he is not 
obliged to exercise in person. The salary of the Grand 
Vizier amounts to about fifty thousand dollars a year. 



THE TURKISH GOVERNMENT. 293 

The different departments of Medjliss-i-Hass, con- 
stituting what is known as the Sublime Porte, consists 
of the following ministers: r, the Grand Vizier; 2, 
the Sheik-ul-Islam ; 3, the Minister of the Interior ; 
4, the Minister of War ; 5, the Minister of Evkaf, or 
Worship ; 6, the Minister of Public Instruction ; 7, 
the Minister of Public Works ; 8, the President of the 
Council of State ; 9, the Minister of Foreign Affairs; 
10, the Minister of Finance; 11, the Minister of 
Marine ; 12, the Minister of Justice ; 1 3, the Minister of 
the Civil List. This Medjliss-i-Hass has weekly meet- 
ings, when matters of public moment are presented 
and considered. It also serves as a sort of advisory 
Cabinet. 

It was in 1453 that the unique office of Sheik-ul-Islam 
was created. No other nation employs a similar 
functionary, because the laws of no other nation are in 
such a peculiar manner related to the sacred writings. 
While not really a spiritual head, it becomes one of 
his duties to interpret the Koran as applied to matters 
of a legal character, and to preside over Ulema, a body 
comprising the clergy and chief functionaries of the 
law. In rank this dignitary is not below the Grand 
Vizier, and he likewise is appointed by the Sultan with 
the nominal concurrence of the Ulema, receiving, the 
same salary as the former officer. The power of the 
Sheik-ul-Islam is manifold. Besides acting as counsel 
to the Sultan, he is at the head of all the law courts of 
the empire, and his sanction, or fetva, is necessary to 
render a verdict valid. Even the Sultan's decrees are 
subject to his sanction ; yet this is merely a matter of 
form, for, should a fetva be refused him, the Sultan 



294 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

could use — or abuse — his appointing power, and gain 
the sanction desired from a more docile servant. 

So far as my observation has extended, I have found 
that people in general have very erroneous ideas 
regarding the administration of justice in Turkey. I 
think that a personal acquaintance with Turkish courts 
would clearly show that if anything pertaining to the 
Turkish government is worthy of sweeping denuncia- 
tion, it surely is the so-called Department of Justice. 
There is really no semblance of justice in Turkish 
courts in general. 

The old-time courts of the cadis, like backwoods 
courts of America, had substituted their own ideas of 
justice for established law. They would, for instance, 
render judgment against the defendant and send him 
to jail for not paying promptly, and send the plaintiff 
there, too, for making a fuss about so small a matter, 
while the witness would get a few days behind the 
bars for not minding his own business. The modern 
Turkish courts, however, were forced to adopt a system 
of laws based upon the Code Napoleon. At the time 
it was thought a decided improvement ; but the Moslem 
system of laws thus coming into a close relation with 
the European system, as represented by the Code 
Napoleon, has resulted in nothing more than that the 
Turk has put on the robes of civilized nations, only to 
cover his barbaric inner nature. 

It is not new laws that are most needed in Turkey. 
The existing laws, in all the departments of administra- 
tion, are good enough for the Turks ; but what is vitally 
indispensable to good government is the honest appli- 
cation of the existing laws. 




A TURKISH JUDGE. 



296 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

In every vilayet, as well as in every liva (or sanjak) 
and caza, we find two different courts of justice. One 
is the Superior Court, or " Court Sheri," whose head— 
always a Mussulman — is appointed by the Sultan. The 
Courts Sheri correspond somewhat to American Courts 
of Equity, and they expound the sacred law of the 
Koran, appealing to it for a decision in those complexi- 
ties where the law of the country is inadequate. Cases 
relating to real property fall rightly under their juris- 
diction. The judgments of these courts are ex- 
amined and amended by a mollah residing at the 
governing centers. The High Court of Appeals is 
divided into two chambers, one for Asia and one for 
Europe, and at the heads of these we recognize the 
cadiaskers, or the military judges who constitute the 
second pillar of state in our figure of the royal tent. 
While these Courts Sheri are not the only courts in 
Turkey, yet the Koran is the only law in the legislation 
of the country, and it is appealed to as absolute au- 
thority in all instances. Not only is this true, but 
there is another set of courts, which, although inferior 
in rank, are wide enough in their jurisdiction, and 
vested with enough of power, to be described some- 
what in detail. While in theory to the people prop- 
erly belongs the privilege of electing judges to these 
common courts, yet none but Mussulmans are held 
eligible to the office. Besides a jurisdiction over 
criminal cases, these tribunals try cases between the 
two great religious sects — between Mussulman and 
Christian. Like the Sheri, these courts are located at 
each vilayet, liva, and caza, each considering appeals 
from the next lower in rank. The tribunal at the 



THE TURKISH GOVERNMENT. 297 

vilayet tries the higher cases, involving such sentences 
as capital punishment and exile ; but sentences of 
death are subject to the imperial sanction. At the 
vilayet is also a Court of Appeals, whose members come 
from the inferior courts, and who are supposed to be 
elected by the inhabitants, although in practice their 
choice has little influence. 

The lesser courts of the sub-districts — the livas and 
cazas — try the less important suits. Lowest, and of 
least rank of all, are the minor justices of the peace, 
found at each village, whose jurisdiction is confined to 
cases the most petty. At the capital is the Supreme 
Court of Justice, which considers appeals from all over 
the empire, even including the Tribunal of Commerce, 
and whose decision is final, except in sentence of death, 
which can always be appealed to him on whose special 
will rest the lives of all his subjects. " In acknowledg- 
ment," says Creasy, "of his absolute power of life and 
death, the title of Hunkiar, the ' Manslayer,' is the one 
most commonly used by the subjects of the Sultan in 
speaking of their sovereign." 

Whatever may be said of the administration of 
justice in Turkey, it is patent to all that here, at least, is 
a system good enough in theory, but purely despotic in 
practice, whether it be the worst conceivable or no. 
And I think it may be asserted with truth that, in 
spite of the many so-called reforms, justice is hardly 
ever meted out with any degree of equity. As has 
been indicated, the laws of the land are not based 
strictly upon the Code Napoleon, but upon the Koran, 
and these institutes are made to conform to it. Under 
such a legal system a Christian has no rights whatever. 



298 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

He can obtain no justice, and has no redress against 
wrongs that are done him, for even his testimony is not 
available in Turkish courts of law. As has been stated, 
it is always the Moslem who sits on the bench ; and as 
he, under the precepts of Moslem law, will not accept 
the evidence of a Christian against a fellow-Moslem, 
even though accused of the foulest crimes, how can a 
Christian hope for justice? It is absurd, let me repeat, 
to point out to the decrees of the Hatti-Humayoum 
placing the Christian witness on equality with those of 
the Mohammedans, for these decrees were never fully 
executed, and, in fact, they will always remain a dead 
letter as long as the Turk remains a Mohammedan. I 
can speak from personal and intimate acquaintance 
with Turkish courts of " justice." There are scarcely 
any of them that would not adhere to the old Moslem 
law rather than the Code Napoleon, when the con- 
troversy is based on an issue as affecting Moham- 
medans and Christians. When, however, the conten- 
tion is of a Moslem against a Moslem, or a Christian 
against a Christian, then, as a rule, nothing but the 
largest bakshish, or bribe, can give weight to the 
balance of Turkish justice. 

I have dwelt, in the preceding pages of this chapter, 
on the administrative phases of the Turkish govern- 
ment, and I wish to add a cursory outline of the area, 
population, and military system of the Ottoman 
government, and also of agriculture and taxation. 

The total area of the immediate possessions of Tur- 
key, not including the States nominally subject, is esti- 
mated at 1, 147,578 square miles, and its total population 



THE TURKISH GOVERNMENT. 299 

at about 27,688,000. Of this number, in Asia it has 
687,640 square miles, with a population of 21,608,000; 
in Africa, 398,738 miles, and a population of 1,300,000; 
and in Europe, 61,200 miles, and a population of 
4,780,000. 

Nominal possessions of the Ottoman Empire, includ- 
ing the Balkan States, Egypt, and Samos, have a total 
area of 461,662 square miles, with a total population of 
about 1 1,542,131. 

THE ARMY AND NAVY. 

The power of the Turkish army is great, by reason of 
its fanaticism and its being organized by German offi- 
cers. In its present organization it is divided into 
three main divisions, namely : 1, the nizam, or the 
regular army ; 2, the rddif, or the army of reserve ; 
and, 3, the muntafiz, or the territorial army. All 
Mohammedans over twenty years of age are liable to 
military service, and this liability continues for twenty 
years — six years in the regular army, eight years in the 
reserve army, and six years in the territorial army. 
All the military forces of the Turkish government are 
distributed in army corps, with seven headquarters in 
principal centers of the empire. The effective com- 
batant service of the Turkish army, according to the 
" Statesman's Year Book," is 700,620 men. Of this, the 
infantry has 648 battalions, with 583,200 men ; the cav- 
alry, 202 squadrons, with 53,300 men ; the artillery, 
1 356 guns, with 54,720 men ; and the engineers have 39 
companies, with 7400 men. 

The Turkish navy is in a sadly neglected condition. 
Only three ships can now be counted of any fighting 



300 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

value, while the rest of the Turkish ships are of 
no worth whatever. The Ottoman naval organiza- 
tion is practically the same as that of the land forces. 
The time of service in the navy is twelve years — five in 
active service, three in the reserve, and four in the 
redif, or army of reserve. 

Any candid, impartial observer of the Turkish 
Government will find that the official corruption in all 
the departments of administration has kept out of gear 
its political machinery. So incurably dishonest is the 
whole system that nothing can be done without a bribe. 
It is seldom that men of requisite qualifications are in- 
trusted with high governmental and municipal offices; 
but the person who secures an appointment is the one 
who has the skill to acquire influence in the palace at 
Constantinople. If there is anything in the United 
States that somewhat resembles the Turkish govern- 
ment it is the New York Tammany Hall at its worst. 
True, there have been a few honorable and hia-h-ininded 
officials, who conducted the affairs of the state with 
some measure of efficiency ; but the general demoraliza- 
tion, with the basest forms of venality on one hand and 
cruelty and misgovernment on the other, has become 
so widely spread that it would be really difficult to 
overestimate the utter rottenness of many branches of 
the administration. 

As in all other governments, and perhaps to a 
greater degree, there is to be found much of dross and 
much that cannot be looked upon with complacency by 
right-minded men. Much of excellent theory is trans- 
formed into most corrupt practice. Good government 
can come only through good administration. True, a 




A MODERN TURKISH GENERAL. 



302 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

bad law may seriously hamper the best administration, 
yet a good law is of no value whatever unless well ad- 
ministered. A thorough cleansing- of the administra- 
tion, with many important modifications of abusable 
privileges, would do much for civilization in Turkey. 

AGRICULTURE AND TAXATION. 

At the conquest of the country now known as 
Turkey four main dispositions were made of the 
land, namely: first, miri, or Crown lands ; second, 
vacouf, or pious foundations ; third, mulikaneh, or 
Crown grants ; and, fourth, mtiek, or freehold prop- 
erty. The first portion, the Crown lands, con- 
stituted the private property of the empire ; the 
second was set aside as the exclusive property of the 
Church ; the third division of landed property was 
granted to the old feudal soldiers in recompense for 
military service ; while the last tenure, the freehold 
property, does not exist to a great extent. By con- 
forming to certain conditions imposed by the govern- 
ment, the unoccupied or waste lands included under 
the first division may become private property. Any- 
one may thus obtain a title to a farm by appropriating 
as many acres as he can well cultivate, providing he 
pays the specified tax for a period of twenty years. 
As a result of this opportunity afforded by the gov- 
ernment, many villages, composed almost wholly of 
these minor farmers, have gradually come into being. 
It was not until the year 1867 that subject peoples 
were granted the right of holding real property in 
their own name. To-day numbers of large farms 



THE TURKISH GOVERNMENT. 303 

represent investments of foreign capital, and almost 
all the farms of the empire have non-resident owners. 

The transfer of title to land is a simple matter. 
Both parties to a transfer proceed to the government 
house of a district, and there, in the presence of wit- 
nesses, make the sale valid. The purchaser pays at 
once the price agreed and receives a certificate which 
entitles him to private ownership ; later he obtains 
from the capital the title-deed to his property. 

But while the transfer of land is apparently so 
simple, yet many complexities attend its formalities 
in the execution of property titles, and these very 
complexities have been deliberately instituted by the 
Turkish government for the express purpose of plun- 
dering the Christian property-owners. 

The vacouf, or Church lands, are not exempt from 
being a source of a great deal of trouble. As has 
been briefly stated, the vaconf is a parcel of land with 
or without buildings on it ; its dominium plenum does 
not belong to the occupant, but he simply has the use 
of it. The fact that this form of tenure insures free- 
dom from many oppressive measures of the govern- 
ment and fraudulent tendencies of grasping officials 
induces a great many people to make over their 
property to pious institutions, such as a mosque, with 
the condition of using the property during their life- 
time. In time this method became so firmly estab- 
lished that to-day the whole ■ of Constantinople is 
vacotif property. Reclus estimates that one-third of 
the total amount of property in European Turkey is 
vacotif property. 

As to how laws and regulations have been alto- 



304 • THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

gether disregarded by the Turkish government; and 
people have been driven from their homes, and their 
property seized by the officials of the state, I will not 
here attempt to speak. It would, indeed, open a new 
chapter of endless wrongs. 

We will now consider the mode of managing a large 
cultivated estate. The landed proprietor himself does 
not usually attend to the farm, but employs an agent, 
generally a native, to personally superintend the busi- 
ness ; and thus the owner is often the victim of dis- 
honesty on the part of his agent, who has not much 
fear of discovery. Besides the agent there are numer- 
ous farm laborers, who are sometimes paid in stipu- 
lated wages and sometimes by a share in the year's 
produce. The superintendent has also his " staff " of 
cowherds, oxherds, and similar necessary helpers. By 
this method, in force on the beylik, or " home farm," as 
it is called, the profits above wages and other expenses 
revert directly to the landed proprietor. But the 
beylik does not include all of the estate, for a large 
part of it is let out to tenants who usually work on the 
mitayer system — a system so universally in vogue 
that it will be well to explain it. 

The tenant is usually a Christian. Besides a small 
plot for his own private use, he is furnished by his 
landlord with seed, and sometimes with a house and 
barn. At the end of the year each receives half of 
of what produce remains after paying the usual "tithe," 
or tax. It cannot be said that this system is one of 
absolute equity, for if there is any loss to be borne, it 
largely falls upon the landlord. If the crops are poor, 
it is he who suffers most ; and his tenant is usually 



THE TURKISH GOVERNMENT. 30$ 

indebted to him ; for when compelled to borrow, the 
tenant borrows from his landlord at twelve per cent, 
rather than from professional money-lenders, whose 
rate is two or three times higher. On the other hand, 
the tenant's lot is not so happy as might be thought 
on considering his absolute freedom from risk. It is 
just this lack of responsibility which, by thwarting any 
spirit of enterprise, is his chief curse. He is sure of 
support at the hands of the proprietor, and is not very 
eager to over-exert himself for the highest cultivation 
of the estate. He also suffers the inconvenience of 
being compelled to give his time to the service of the 
government in any emergency when it may be called 
for. As has been said, the tenant is usually a Chris- 
tian, and, if he be orthodox and observe the exces- 
sively numerous days of religious fast and prayer, he 
will not work nearly all the year. It will be seen that, 
in the face of these obstacles, method is utterly impos- 
sible, and until there is a reform of some kind progress 
is not to be hoped for. 

When properly conducted sheep-farming is a profit- 
able industry, the only drawback being that the art of 
breeding is not understood so as to insure the best re- 
sults. Almost every landed proprietor has grazings 
which he rents out to flock-masters. In the letting out 
of these sheep lands is found one instance where the 
owner runs little or no risk, as at least one-half of the 
rent is always required in advance, and for the other 
half the flock itself is ..mple security. Then, too, de- 
spite severe competition, the rents are generally high. 

In winter the sheep are taken up the mountain slopes 
to graze, and when the warmer days of summer come 



306 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

they are again led to pasture in the plains. This sum- 
mer pasturing extends from the beginning of May to 
October, and is the more profitable kind. 

Turkey has sometimes been suggested as a good 
place for the more scientific cultivation of sheep. It is 
certainly true that, with more careful breeding, much 
more could be realized from this source than is the case 
at the present time. The soil of Asia Minor is so re- 
markably rich and fertile that everything grows in 
great luxuriance, even with little cultivation ; although 
it might seem that the fertile qualities of the soil would 
quickly be exhausted, as it receives no manure save 
from the summer grazing of the sheep. 

In some localities crops are sown every year, and in 
others during alternate years. Grains, such as wheat, 
barley, and oats, are raised. The farmers begin to sow 
in autumn, although some do not finish until January, 
and the reaping is done in the month of June. Owing 
to the nature of the climate, spring crops are usually 
a failure, but about May or April a great staple of the 
empire, tobacco, together with maize and other like 
products, is sown. These are harvested during 
August and September. Tobacco cultivation has at- 
tained a high degree of perfection, and the product 
brings a good price. Of course, there are extensive 
vineyards scattered almost everywhere in Asia Minor, 
and from certain localities of it comes some of the best 
wine in the world. Nor should we fail to mention 
the making of silk, which is no mean industry of the 
empire. 

Good farming has been greatly retarded by the 
very crude methods of cultivation everywhere to be 



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A TURKISH LANDLORD OF THE HIGHEST TYPE. 



308 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

found ; and it is the deliberate policy of the govern- 
ment to continue this state of affairs. Threshing ma- 
chines are practically unused, and, consequently, this 
part of harvesting becomes a very laborious as well as 
wasteful process. 

There are several modes of threshing. Sometimes 
the grain in the ear is scattered on the barn floor and 
horses are made to gallop over it. In other localities 
the process is more elaborate, and a sled with a Minted 
bottom is used, upon which is often placed a young girl, 
who balances.herself as she is drawn by horses round 
and round the threshing-floor, amid the admiring 
plaudits of the beholders. The women, too, are com- 
pelled to do their share, and in the threshing season 
usually commence work with the men, at three o'clock 
in the morning. 

There seems to be a decided aversion to farm 
machinery of every kind. For instance, the plow which 
is most extensively in use is little more than a stick. 

It is true, the earth has only to be tickled to "laugh 
in a harvest," but the laugh might be a little more 
hearty were more modern plows introduced and used. 
When the material civilization of the West shall pene- 
trate Oriental crudeness, bringing its tools and machines 
and means of transportation ; when human ingenuity 
shall join hands with nature, there will not be found in 
all the world better farming countries than European 
and Asiatic Turkey. 

The tax on agriculture is very onerous. The tithe 
system is in vogue, and it has always varied in amount 
on all produce. The tax is levied by a person known 
as the multeyim, who purchases from the government 



3IO THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

the privilege of taxing- a certain territory. The pur- 
chase price constitutes the revenue of the government 
from this source, and the profits of the collector are 
measured by the amount he is able to extort from the 
people in excess of that sum. Thus the motive of the 
collector is self-interest rather than public service. 
One redeeming feature, however, which prevents worse 
corruption, is the fact that the officers of the state are 
never allowed to bid for tithes. 

Some of the measures of this taxation are extremely 
harsh. For instance, the farmers are obliged to keep 
their produce until the collector comes to take his por- 
tion, and thereby loss is often suffered. But the great- 
est evil is in the methods of assessment. The collector, 
by virtue of the government's sanction, resorts to un- 
restricted acts of violence and oppression, in his greedy 
efforts to secure excessive profits. At the time of 
the collection of taxes, accompanied by the zabtieh, or 
police (in spite of the law that collection of taxes is to 
be wholly separated from the work of the police), in 
many cases he actually takes the last cent from the 
poor farmer. I have known years when the crops 
failed ; nevertheless, the assessor was sure to appear 
with the police and seize the cattle of the unfortunate 
farmer. At times, in my native city Marsovan, the 
yield of grapes was so far overestimated, as they hung 
on the vines, that when the vineyards were put into the 
tender hands of the tax-buyer twenty-five or thirty per 
cent, of the actual product was demanded from the pro- 
ducer. Taking into due consideration such execution 
of laws with actual conditions, we need not wonder at 
the unenterprising character and the perpetual poverty 



THE TURKISH GOVERNMENT. 3 II 

of the peasantry. It is needless to say that it would 
improve the condition of things were the government 
to collect this tax directly, for, however exorbitant its 
taxation might be, the heaviest burden of legal exac- 
tion is light when compared with the extortion prac- 
ticed by the multeyims. 

Corresponding somewhat to the ashr, or tithe, on 
arable land, is what is termed the say me, a tax on 
sheep, goats, and, sometimes, cattle. Before 1858 this 
was collected in kind, but since that time one-tenth of 
the money value, according to appraisement, had been 
taken by the government. 

Similar to the property tax in this country is the 
verghi, which to-day assumes two forms, a tax on 
income and a tax on property. This is systematic and 
based upon a fixed principle. The assessment of the 
income tax is made in public meetings, at which all 
concerned are permitted to be present, and it differs 
with the professions and trades, and depends also on 
the reputed wealth of the individual. In general, how- 
ever, it is three per cent, on all gross income from in- 
vested capital or from any other source. There are a 
few who are exempt, such as parish doctors, religious 
orders, and schoolmasters. 

The tax on real property mentioned above is 
placed at four dollars a year per one thousand dollars 
on the estimated value of all lands and houses, whether 
subject to tithes or not. The value of such property 
is calculated at five times its produce, or twenty 
times its assumed rent, and, with the tithe, this is 
most oppressive. It may be added that those who 
receive rent from tenants are required to hand over 



312 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

four per cent, per annum, tithe-paying land alone 
excepted. 

Although the Hatti-Sherif of 1839 and the Hatti- 
Humayoum of 1856 were to admit Christians into the 
Ottoman army, the law has never been fully enforced. 
Save a couple of regiments of mixed Cossacks, there 
are hardly any non-Mussulmans engaged in the service. 
The exemption from military duty, however, is not to 
be obtained for nothing, and a tax, commonly termed 
the bedel, is laid upon all non-Mohammedans not in 
the army. This tax in itself is not unfair, considering 
that a Mohammedan has to pay more for the exemp- 
tion than does a Christian, but, in common with other 
taxes, the method of assessment deserves our condem- 
nation. 

I have known poor Armenian neighbors, with 
large families, who, upon their absolute inability to 
meet the government's demands, were thrown into 
prison, after being subjected to the most brutal indig- 
nities, thus leaving- their families in a state of hunger 
and despair. They were not to be released until the 
government's demands were duly met. I vividly recall 
instances when the philanthropic spirit of my father 
was so moved by the miseries of unhappy victims of 
Turkish outrage that he hastened to pay their taxes, 
and thus secured their deliverance from Turkish dun- 
geons. This most harassing and oppressive form of 
taxation has long been the cause of infinite trouble, 
aggravated by the rapacity with which it was enforced. 

Although in the regulations of 1876 freedom from 
taxation was promised to children and old men, yet, like 
all good promises of the Turk, this too has remained a 



s 2 




3 H THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

dead letter, and a full tax has been exacted from males 
of all ages. The injustice of such a law is unquestioned, 
yet Armenians would have small cause for complaint 
were this the only oppressive feature in the system of 
Turkish taxation. 

Some reforms have been instituted of late years 
which have somewhat enhanced the prosperity of the 
Turk. For instance, the eight per cent, tax formerly 
imposed upon goods passing from one Turkish port 
to another has happily been abolished, and an excise 
of one per cent, placed in its stead. 

The indiscriminate tariff on imports of eight per 
cent, ad valorem is certainly not in accord with any 
principle of political economy, for it is often the weapon 
of exaction and of favoritism, in estimating the value 
of imports. The tax on exports of native prod- 
uce is placed at one per cent, if sent abroad, but eight 
per cent, if sent from one part of the empire to an- 
other. 

A tax of considerable importance is that levied on 
tobacco, and, as it is collected by the agent of a foreign 
company, it is, perhaps, the most frequently evaded. 
Owing to the severe penalty inflicted upon anyone dis- 
covered in the smuggling business, many ingenious 
methods are employed to elude detection. I have known 
of cases where tobacco, carefully covered with wool, was 
concealed in a bag and, as usual, carried on the back. 
Nor is this the only way in which the wool is pulled 
over the authorities' eyes. As we have previously 
stated, the tail of the Oriental sheep is quite large, and 
some persons, diverting this appendage from the pur- 
pose by nature designed, use it to hide a tale more 



THE TURKISH GOVERNMENT. 315 

wonderful still. I was surprised one midnight to see 
a man passing stealthily through the town, not on the 
street but from roof to roof, with what appeared to be 
a bag upon his back. As it turned out afterward, the 
bag was filled with tobacco, which he was trying to 
smuggle to his home in this unusual and perilous 
manner. 

Various attempts have been made to develop the rich 
natural resources of the empire and establish manufac- 
tories, especially in the country, labor being so abun- 
dant and cheap. At one time a new era seemed to 
dawn, and thousands of natives were employed in fac- 
tories. English and French influence, however, inau- 
gurated the policy of free trade. Their goods were 
imported at a tariff of six or eight per cent, ad valorem. 
As a natural consequence the Turkish factories were 
closed, and workingmen and their families were reduced 
to abject poverty. The famous Bruse towels were im- 
itated, and sold much cheaper, driving out the native 
ooods, which, though costing more, would last five 
times as long. Combs, cutlery, and silks came from 
Sheffield, Manchester, and Lyons. The fine silky 
fleece of the Angora goat is sold much cheaper to the 
English manufacturer than to the native artisan, and 
comes back enhanced in value from fifty- to a hun- 
dred-fold. It is safe to say that of the wealth produced 
by a native goat, forty-nine dollars out of every fifty 
go into the pockets of foreigners. America may well 
learn a lesson from the Angora goat, and continue to 
resist a free-trade system that has closed the factories, 
destroyed the revenue, and produced beggary in the 
Ottoman Empire. 



316 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

In spite of its exorbitant tax system the Turkish 
government has, in the last half century, been accumu- 
lating- large debts, and its direct borrowings form no 
little portion of the general budget. In 1889 the reve- 
nue was ninety million dollars, while the expenditures 
were about one hundred and twenty-five million dollars. 

The entire system of Turkish finance is sorely in 
need of scientific readjustment. The antiquated " farm- 
ing-out " system should be replaced by a system of di- 
rect assessment and levy by officials of the government. 
The rapacity and greed of the tax-farmer being elim- 
inated, the people would cheerfully contribute to the 
support of the government. And with the growth of 
a healthy public sentiment, through gradual modifica- 
tions, there might be evolved from the present disorder 
and confusion a general scheme of taxation along pro- 
gressive and scientific lines. In regard to the indus- 
trial incidents of the public finance, manufacture seems 
to require a discriminating protective tariff, and agri- 
culture seems to require larger expenditures in the line 
of public roads and other facilities, for transportation. 

A reliable index to the prosperity of any country is 
to be found in its system of taxation. Whether such 
taxes are proportionately divided ; whether the poor are 
oppressed, and the rich escape from their rightful share 
in the public burden of expense, are questions the 
answers to which, to a large extent, determine the char- 
acter of the nation. The proper administration and 
regulation of public taxation have been a serious and 
unsolved problem in all ages. A wise administration of 
taxes has raised empires to the pinnacle of world-wide 
glory. A too-sweeping tax adjudication has led many 



THE TURKISH GOVERNMENT. 317 

a nation to irretrievable downfall. Taxation is the 
tyrant's mightiest tool. Rightly conducted, it serves as 
the people's greatest blessing. One thing is certain : 
no matter how different the ways in which taxes are 
levied, they are essential to national growth, and even 
national existence. 



THE EASTERN QUESTION. 



" A sick man — a very sick man. It would be a great misfortune 
if one of these days he should slip away from us before the nec- 
essary arrangements have been made. "—Nicholas I. 

IT is a rash claim for any man to make that he has 
*■ mastered the Eastern Question. So complicated are 
its issues that it is hard to define, still harder to com- 
prehend, it. In my conversation with a professor of 
modern history in one of the leading American univer- 
sities, who is regarded as a specialist on this subject, 
he asserted with emphasis, " I do not understand the 
question, and nobody else does." It is a many-sided 
question, of which the future of Turkey is only a part ; 
and it leads out into such a labyrinth of political entan- 
glements that, unless a person takes a single point 
of view, to the utter disregard and exclusion of all side 
issues, he will never find his way out of it. 

For centuries the Eastern Question has been the 
most engrossing problem that European statesmanship 
has had to solve, and centuries may yet pass before it 
will be finally settled. While the question has chiefly 
interested Russia, Turkey, and England, it is closely 
studied and watched, with the deepest concern, by all 
nations of the Continent. Back of all the diplomatic 
maneuvering, the one great aim of the Powers is to 
have, each and all, an outlet upon the Mediterranean, 

318 



THE EASTERN QUESTION. 319 

and, with this ultimate object in view, to join in the 
division and get the largest possible slice of Turkey. 
So long as a practical method of accomplishing this 
end is lacking, by reason of their common greed and 
mutual jealousies, just so long will the Eastern Ques- 
tion continue to exist. Calm and peaceful as it may 
sometimes appear on the surface, there are elements be- 
neath that only await the touch of the fuse to evoke 
an eruption that will cause the political world to 
tremble. 

In the preceding chapter we have pointed out that 
with the Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent (1520-66), 
the Turkish Empire had reached the zenith of its power 
and glory. He had led the nation into the grandest 
epoch of its history. He was undisputed master of the 
Mediterranean, and woe betide the ship flying a hostile- 
flag upon its placid bosom ! But there came a change. 
Unlike his brave father, who had marched at the head 
of the army and died at the age of seventy-six amid 
smoking ruins and captured cities, Selim shrank from 
leading his army in person, and gave himself to the 
excessive indulgence of vicious appetites. His 
example was followed, with rare exceptions, by the 
Sultans who succeeded him. Their folly and cor- 
ruption would have put an end to their rule long ago 
had it not been for the mutual jealousy of the Powers 
of Europe. In the reign of Selim II. occurred the 
first conflict between the Turks and Russians. He 
decided to connect the Caspian and Black seas by 
uniting the rivers Don and Volga by a canal, by means 
of which a Turkish fleet could be sent into the Caspian. 
This had always been a plan that Russia most desired 



320 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

to carry out herself. When, therefore, Selim dispatched 
five thousand laborers and eighty thousand soldiers to 
consummate the cherished plan, he met with opposition 
from the Russians. The Turkish soldiers attacked the 
town of Astrakhan, the possession of which was neces- 
sary to construct the canal, but were repulsed and driven 
back. At this time the Russians, while patriotic and 
aggressive, occupied only a limited portion of southern 
Europe, and were but little known. Their antipathy 
to the Turks dates from their heroic defense before the 
walls of Astrakhan. 

For one hundred years the Ottoman Empire had 
stood alone in power and might. Its armies had pene- 
trated victoriously into the heart of Europe and had 
advanced to within two score miles of Vienna. From 
that city the Roman emperor fled before them, and 
the mighty Cathedral of St. Stephen barely escaped 
the fate of St. Sophia at Byzantium, in becoming a 
mosque of Allah and the Prophet. But soon the 
bright splendor of the Star and Crescent was obscured. 
In 1 571 the ships of the Christian Powers, under 
the command of Don John of Austria, encountered 
the Turks outside of the Gulf of Lepanto, and in the 
furious conflict that ensued the Ottoman fleet was 
almost annihilated. Such a result proved of great 
moral value to Christians. They learned that the 
Ottoman navy was no longer invincible on the seas. 
Defeat after defeat, instead of the usual victories, fol- 
lowed the Turkish armies in quick succession, and but 
for the aid of the Poles the result would have been 
the utter destruction of the Ottoman Power. Turkey, 
however, continued to decline, and though she made 







'!5!'.«""I l !T ' "— *~^*-^r 



322 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

an occasional re-conquest, it was not of sufficient 
importance to turn the tide of her ill fortune. 

In the year 1664 the Turkish army was completely 
routed in a war with the Germans, and twenty years 
later another bloody defeat was suffered at the hands 
of the Austrians. Turkey was urged into a war with 
Russia by Charles XII. of Sweden, who had taken 
refuge in the Sultan's empire after the disaster of 
Pultowa. The contest nearly resulted in the crushing 
defeat of the Russians, who were deserted by the 
Moldavians, upon whose aid they had in a large 
degree depended. In 1711 the Grand Vizier Baltiji 
Mohammed marched into Moldavia against the forces 
of the Czar, and on the right bank of the Pruth he 
completely blockaded the army of Peter the Great. 
Here the Vizier had his tireless foe entrapped in a 
precarious position, and finally compelled him to sur- 
render. But his stupidity, and the adroit tactics of 
the Czarina, allowed Peter the Great to escape on 
the easiest terms. 

In 1736, with the capture of the fortress of Azof 
and other important strongholds, the attitude of the 
Russians changed to the aggressive, and in their sub- 
sequent career of ceaseless warfare they proved to be 
a far more formidable adversary to the Turks than the 
Austrians. Austria now entered into an alliance with 
Russia to secure the ruin of Turkey and divide the 
spoils between them. The discovery of this scheme 
led the Turks to a war, in which the Austrians were 
defeated and driven across the Danube, while the 
Russians victoriously penetrated into the very heart 
of Moldavia. Again, in 1769, the Russians invaded 



THE EASTERN QUESTION. 323 

Moldavia, captured the fortress of Choozin, and, in 
the following year, conquered Moldavia and Wallachia, 
and blockaded and set on fire the Turkish fleet off 
Chios. The notable treaty of Kutchouk-Kainardji, 
made in July, 1774, closed the war. It provided for 
the absolute independence of the Tartar territory on 
the Crimea, with Kuban and the surrounding districts, 
and it further stipulated that under no pretext should 
either country meddle in their affairs. 

Scarcely had the treaty been signed when Russia 
broke the terms by taking possession of the Crimea and 
the entire country east of the Caspian Sea, and compelled 
the Sultan, in 1784, to acquiesce in this action. It was, 
however, Catherine's fixed plan to drive the Turkish 
Power out of Europe and restore the Greek kingdom, 
by placing her grandson on the throne of Constanti- 
nople. Aware of the scheme, three years later the 
Sultan resumed hostilities against his Russian foe. A 
year later Joseph II. of Austria heartily entered into 
Russia's plan for the conquest and final dismemberment 
of the Ottoman Empire. Again Austria was defeated, 
and this time was compelled to sign a treaty at Sisto- 
via, in 1791. The Russians, however, were too powerful 
for Turkey. They overran its northern provinces, and 
dealt a crushing- blow to the Turkish fleet. The Otto- 
man Empire was apparently about to fall, and its very 
foundations seemed shaken by the victorious tramp 
of the mighty Russian Bear. All Europe now became 
alarmed. Pitt formed the Triple Alliance, made up of 
England, Prussia, and Holland, for the preservation of 
the European balance of power and the muzzling of the 
Russian Bear. Notwithstanding such a serious ob- 



324 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

stacle, Catherine determined to continue her warfare 
against the Turks until the completion of her cherished 
designs. To best accomplish this, Russia and Austria 
again effected an alliance, and the combined armies 
proceeded against the common adversary. The result 
was disastrous to Turkey, which was not only com- 
pelled to pay a heavy indemnity, but ceded Bucharest, 
Bender, Akerman, Ismail, and the Crimea and Kuban 
to the Russians, while Belgrade was given to Austria. 
The treaty of peace with Russia was signed at Jassey 
in January, 1792. The Dneister was made the frontier 
boundary between the two empires. The treaty also 
recognized the protectorate of Russia over Tirlis. Had 
it not been for the strong influence of the Triple Alli- 
ance, Catherine would have captured Constantinople 
itself. Indeed, so intense was the feeling of Pitt 
against the predominant and grasping policy of Russia 
that he united with Prussia for war against Catherine, 
and nothing but the strong public opinion against him 
rendered it impossible for the English minister to 
carry out his plan. 

The far-sighted policy adopted by Peter the Great, 
the greatest Russian ruler up to his day, was one of 
acquisition. Constantinople and its straits were his 
dream, just as Jerusalem was that of the Crusaders. 
He knew that the Black Sea was the only coast available 
for the military and commercial enterprises of his 
people ; and it was but natural that he should take a deep 
interest in the question of the Straits, the outlet of that 
body of water which involved the maritime portion of 
his domain. The position of the Bosphorus and the 
Dardanelles, and their strategic importance, are doubt- 



THE EASTERN QUESTION. 325 

less well known to every one of my readers. The 
only countries bordering on the Black Sea are 
Russia and Turkey. But for the narrow channel called 
the Bosphorus, which connects the Black Sea and the 
Sea of Marmora, the sea would be to Russia simply a 
great land-locked lake. The Bosphorus is seventeen 
miles long and at places only a half mile wide, yet it is 
so deep that it enables the largest ship to anchor close 
to its shores. Entrance from this to the Mediterranean 
Sea is made possible by the Straits of Dardanelles, 
narrow and deep like the Bosphorus, and forty miles 
long. Close these straits, and Russia becomes an inland 
region, and its ships in the Black Sea are virtually 
land-locked. Fortify these straits, and Constantinople 
is invulnerable from the sea. 

A treaty signed in 1807 between Great Britain and 
Turkey confirmed a right which the Sultan has always 
claimed, i. e., to exclude foreign war vessels from both 
straits. However, by a second clause that was inserted 
in the treaty of Hunkiar-Iskelessi, July 8, 1833, Turkey 
and Russia effected an offensive and defensive alliance, 
by which the latter government was granted the right 
to sail its war vessels through the straits, while the 
Sultan was bound to keep the Dardanelles closed to 
all war ships of other powers, thereby shutting out the 
enemies of Russia from the Black Sea, but leaving 
Russia's own vessels free passage through the straits. 
The stipulations of this treaty, to the consternation 
of the English, made the influence of Russia almost 
supreme in Turkey, and in turn made the Sultan virtually 
a vassal of the great Czar. The jealousy of the Powers, 
particularly of England, became very intense over the 



326 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

advantage gained by their political rival. At length 
England, at the head of five great Powers, effected a 
treaty in 1841 by which no foreign fleet should enter 
the straits in time of peace, and in time of war it 
should be the Sultan's right to allow the war vessels of 
friendly nations to pass into the Sea of Marmora for 
the purpose of co-operation with and protection of the 
Porte. Thus the navy of Russia was shut up in the 
Black Sea, which has virtually always been the case. 
To change this, and give his country an unhampered 
commercial and military outlet through the straits, 
Peter the Great had bent all his energies. In his 
alleged will, which was published for the people, and 
accepted as genuine, — though now its authorship may 
be questioned,— he is quoted as having said : 

Raise war continually — at one time against Turkey, at another 
against Persia; make dock-yards on the Black Sea; by degrees 
make yourselves masters of the Sea as well as of the Baltic; 
hasten the decay of Persia, and penetrate to the Persian Gulf; 
establish, if possible, the ancient commerce of the East by way 
of Syria, and push on to the Indies, which are the entrepdt of the 
world. Once there, you need not fear the gold of England. 

So thoroughly did this supposed will of Peter the 
Great represent the attitude of Russia that the people 
believed it their duty to follow its commands, as they 
are doing with great patience and zeal. England, of 
all the Powers, has been most jealous of the encroach- 
ments of Russia in the East. Her officers and emis- 
saries continually report that evidences of Russian 
intrigue in central Asia are apparent ; and it is known 
that the policy of England, even in Afghanistan, was 



328 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

directed and influenced by the representations of the 
Czar. 

Emperor Nicholas had made up his mind that the 
Ottoman Empire should be speedily extinguished. 
In order to put his plans into a definite course of 
action, he visited England in person, in 1844, an d there 
plainly outlined his design, and exchanged views with 
the British diplomats as to the final dismemberment of 
Turkey, His conversation at the time gave the 
impression that his loftiest ambition was to consum- 
mate a friendly alliance with the British government, 
as a prelude to dividing the spoils upon the collapse of 
Turkey, which he believed was impending. In con- 
versation with the Duke of Wellington and Lord 
Aberdeen, then Foreign Secretary, he spoke with 
astonishing frankness regarding his views on Turkey, 
its prospects, and what would probably take place if it 
were dismembered. When he returned to Russia he 
caused a memorandum to be drawn up, which he 
believed embodied the views held alike by himself and 
Wellington and Aberdeen. It stated that England 
and Russia were alike in the belief that their common 
interests were conserved by the maintenance of the 
Turkish Empire in its existing independence and 
existing territorial extent. That while they both had 
a common and equal interest in guarding its safety, 
yet while Turkey continued to violate its treaty obliga- 
tions, it was impossible to maintain its integrity. Nor 
did he speak with uncertain tone when he described 
the conduct of the Porte. He stated that Turkey 
relied upon the jealousies of the Powers to secure its 
immunity in breaking treaties ; it believed that if it did 




NICHOLAS I., EMPEROR OF RUSSIA. 



330 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

not keep its engagements with any nation, others would 
protect it from chastisement. Continuing the memo- 
randum, he said : 

As soon as the Porte shall perceive that it is not supported by 
other cabinets it will give way, and the differences which have 
arisen will be arranged in a conciliatory manner, without any 
conflict resulting from them. 

It further contained a clause that dwelt upon the 
immediate necessity of the Porte's improving the condi- 
tion of its Christian subjects. It was asserted that on 
such conditions Russia and England could but desire 
the preservation of the Ottoman Empire. In the 
event, however, of the unforeseen disaster, it was, 
according to the memorandum, desirable that Russia 
and England should arrive at an understanding as to 
the course of action to be taken by them. 

When the copy of the memorandum reached Eng- 
land it was quietly filed away in the Foreign Orifice, 
and was not made public till at a later time, when the 
Russian press maintained that the British government 
had for a considerable period of time known the views 
of Russia regarding Turkey. Up to the time of its 
publication the Czar had assumed that England con- 
sented to his plan, following the theory that " silence 
gives consent." 

On the evening of January 9, 1853, in a confidential 
talk at St. Petersburg, with the British Ambassador, Sir 
G. Hamilton Seymour, Nicholas withheld nothing, 
expressing himself in the most positive manner re- 
garding the future of Turkey and the arrangements it 
might be necessary for Russia and England to make. It 
was then that he gave expression to the phrase that is 



THE EASTERN QUESTION. 33 1 

now famous, and has contributed an appellation that will 
probably attach to the Ottoman Empire as long as it 
exists — " The sick man we have-on our hands." 

In subsequent conversations with Sir Hamilton Sey- 
mour, he spoke of the guard which treaties gave him 
the right to keep over the several millions of Greek 
Christians in Turkey, and said he would not permit a 
permanent occupation of Constantinople by Russia; 
nor would he agree to its being held by any other great 
Power. He said he was opposed to the reconstruction 
of Greece into a Byzantine empire, and he was even 
opposed to the subdivision of Turkey into small repub- 
lics. He asserted his attitude positively, that the ex- 
istence of Turkey in Europe should cease, and nothing 
should be allowed to take its place, not even Russia. 
Servia and Bulgaria might become independent states 
under his protection. England might take possession 
of Egypt and Candia; but what he desired was that 
Russia and England should come to an agreement 
after which he would- be totally indifferent as to what 
other Powers might say or do. 

Despite Nicholas' outspoken manner and apparent 
good will toward the English government, the British 
looked upon him as a shrewd schemer and plunderer, 
and the Czar in turn thought England a faithless ac- 
complice. England replied to his overtures that she 
did not regard it' as customary to prepare for the disin- 
tegration of a friendly Power, and that she had no wish 
to take possession of any part of the Ottoman Empire. 
Seeing that there was no hope of the English joining 
him in his project, the Czar retreated somewhat from 
his advanced position, and would probably have en- 



332 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

deavored to maintain a neutral attitude in relation to 
the future of Turkey. However, the antipathy of the 
Russians toward the Turks was so intense, on account 
of the persecutions of their co-religionists, that it com- 
pelled the emperor to renew hostilities, if he desired 
to retain the support of his subjects. 

A cause for war was not far to seek. It was to be 
based upon the contentions of the Greek and Latin 
churches over the holy places in Palestine. The Latin 
Church, under the protection of the French govern- 
ment, had, during the reign of Francis I., been given 
the right of protection in a firman, granted as early as 
1564, by Suleyman the Magnificent. Later, in 1620, 
another firman has the following : 

The Franks, ancient exclusive possessors of the Great Church 
of Bethlehem and the Church of the Tomb of the Virgin, have, 
of their full accord, granted to each of the other Christian com- 
munions sanctuaries in the Superior Church ; but the inferior por- 
tion, the place wherein Jesus Christ was born (may salvation rest 
with Him!), is the sanctuary of the Frankish monks; no other 
nation has any right therein, and it is forbidden to each and every 
nation to usurp hereafter the said place. . . We order that 
no individual, Armenians or other, be permitted to say Mass in 
the place where Jesus Christ was born, a place situate underneath 
the Church of Bethlehem, no more than in the cupola, which is 
called the Tomb of the Holy Virgin; nor, finally, in the sanctua- 
ries, which, from the old time, belonged to the Frankish monks. 

Thus, since the time of the Crusades, the French 
had the general primacy in the holy places. Later, 
however, through a religious propaganda of Russia, 
the Greek Church was granted the same privilege under 
the protection of the Czar. Each succeeding Sultan 
gave these capitulations indiscriminately, totally disre- 



THE EASTERN QUESTION. 333 

garding- what his predecessors had done ; and, as each 
church claimed the general care and primacy over the 
holy places, there was a constant quarrel, each church 
being naturally supported by its protecting nation. 

About this time Napoleon III. installed himself as 
Emperor of France, and he was anxious to distract his 
subjects' attention from the disturbed condition of 
home politics by a brilliant foreign policy. He 
cared no more for the incessant claims of the Latin 
monks in the Holy Land than he cared about the ex- 
istence of Turkey, excepting as they might be turned 
into political capital. He suddenly became peremptory 
in his claims that the demands of the monks should be 
granted. It was his chance to inaugurate the new for- 
eign policy. His action, beyond a doubt, precipitated 
the Crimean war which followed. It would, however, 
have occurred just the same had France done nothing. 

In the negotiations of Russia with the Sultan, just 
preceding the Crimean War, she claims the exclusive 
protectorate of all the Eastern Christians in the Otto- 
man Empire. An acknowledgment of this right was 
the lever by which the Czar sought to compass the fall 
of the Ottoman Empire. 

Russia based its contentions upon the seventh clause 
in the treaty of Kutchouk-Kainardji, made in 1774, 
between the two Pfovernments. At the time when the 
clause was incorporated it was apparently of no marked 
significance. However, it was destined to shake the 
very existence of the Ottoman Empire. The clause 
declared that 

The Porte promises to protect constantly the Christian 
religion and its churches; and also to allow the minister of the 



334 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

Imperial Court of Russia to make on all occasions representations 
as well in favor of the new church in Constantinople, as in favor 
of those who officiate therein, promising to take such representa- 
tions into due consideration as being made by a confidential 
functionary of a neighboring and sincerely friendly Power. 

The church in Constantinople referred to was the 
one which the fourteenth article of the same treaty gave 
Russia the right to build in the Galata quarter of Con- 
stantinople, in addition to the chapel erected at the 
house of the minister. Referring to these, the treaty 
said : 

They shall be always under the protection of the ministers 
of the Russian Empire, and shielded from all obstruction and 
damage. 

While the specific right of intervention was clearly 
attached only to a single church at Constantinople and 
its ministers, out of the clause Russia claimed the right 
of protectorate over all the Christians of the Greek 
Church in the Ottoman Empire. 

Of all the eminent European statesmen, Mr. Glad- 
stone alone accepted the Russian interpretation of the 
seventh clause. Lord John Russell, in a letter to Sir 
Hamilton Seymour, recognized the clause as binding, 
though it is believed thoughtlessly and without realizing 
the importance that would be attached to his words. 

The Czar had sent to Constantinople to represent 
him in the negotiations for the settlement of the dis- 
pute about the holy places Prince Menschikoff. This 
man was a typical oldtime tyrant, with the fighting 
propensity of a bulldog ; haughty and arrogant, inso- 
lent and harsh, he was apparently selected with a view 



THE EASTERN QUESTION. 335 

to prevent an amicable settlement. On the same day 
that the decree settling the dispute appeared, the 
prince, who had been empowered to settle or unsettle 
the matter, suddenly forsook the question of the holy 
places and sought another pretext for a quarrel by 
introducing a new issue. He demanded that the pro- 
tection of the eleven million Greek subjects of the Porte 
be vested at once, and completely, in the emperor of 
Russia. His demands were imperious, and his 
language to the Sultan and Grand Vizier was per- 
emptory ; and he so insulted the Minister of Foreign 
Affairs that that official resigned. In negotiating for 
a treaty between Russia and Turkey, he requested the 
Turkish ministers to pledge themselves not to reveal to 
the French or English ambassadors the nature of the 
documents. This the ministers refused to do. In 
May, 1853, the Sultan, backed by the English and 
French Powers, formally declined to recognize Russia's 
demand for a protectorate of the Greek Christians. 
Immediately the imperial arms were lowered from the 
Russian embassy, and Menschikoff, in simulated anger, 
withdrew from Constantinople, giving the Sultan to 
understand that he would wait a week at Odessa, and 
if within that time a note of concession to the Czar's 
demands was not forthcoming, a rupture with Russia 
might take place. The Czar acquiesced in the acts of 
Menschikoff, and, as no note came, the war began. 
Russia was prepared for the contest, for it was expected. 
Troops had been massed upon the Turkish frontier. 
The Danubian principalities were occupied by the Czar, 
who claimed that this was done to secure guaranty that 
the concessions due his government would be granted, 



33^ THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

but which Turkey declared would not be made. In 
the hope of averting a conflict, the English govern- 
ment advised the Porte to disregard the attitude of 
the Czar, which was admitted to be ample ground 
for the declaration of war. A Vienna note was pre- 
pared, which, but for the astute statesmanship of Lord 
Stratford de Redcliffe, would have been accepted. It 
was so cleverly constructed that the Powers were 
entirely misled by it. Russia had signified her willing- 
ness to accept the note, and the Powers were so 
delighted with it that they were in haste to agree to it, 
until Lord Redcliffe, the British ambassador at Con- 
stantinople, pointed out that, while apparently not a 
concession to Russia, it in fact granted to that Power 
the very point which the Powers were unwilling to con- 
cede, namely, the claim to a protectorate over the 
Greek Christians in Turkish territory. Thereupon 
the Sultan refused to accept the note unless it was 
greatly modified. The Russian government would 
not agree to a single letter of modification, and all 
hopes of European peace were abandoned. 

Actual military preparations were begun by the 
Turks in October, 1853, and for a few days they were 
highly successful. Then followed the destruction of 
their fleet by the Russians at Sinope in the Black Sea. 
This engagement has ever since been called the Mas- 
sacre of Sinope, for in it only four hundred Turks out 
of four thousand escaped death, and all these were more 
or less wounded. The feeling in England and France 
was intense. The condition of the Eastern Christians 
was' altogether lost sight of by them in the larger 
issue raised by Russian aggression, and the Czar was 



THE EASTERN QUESTION. 337 

informed that they were determined upon enforcing 
the neutrality of the Black Sea. 

The French and English ambassadors were im- 
mediately recalled, and diplomatic relations between 
the two Powers and Russia ceased. Napoleon III. 
dispatched a letter to Nicholas requesting him to allow 
an armistice to be signed and to negotiate a conven- 
tion with the Porte, to be submitted to the four Powers. 
If this were not done, Napoleon declared that the 
matter would have to be settled by war, in which the 
French and English would be allies. The Czar replied 
that treaty rights confirmed his claims ; that the condi- 
tions upon which he was willing to treat were well 
known ; and if driven to arms he was certain that his 
nation would hold its own as it had done in the war of 
1812, of which the burning of Moscow and the disas- 
trous retreat of the French were incidents. The 
British government, too, sent a messenger to Nicholas 
with a note which declared that unless the messenger, 
on leaving St. Petersburg after a stay of six days, bore 
a communication signifying his intention to completely 
evacuate the provinces of Moldavia and Wallachia 
before April 30, war would be declared. The mes- 
senger left St. Petersburg without such a note, and 
several days later England declared war against 
Russia. The Crimean War was the result. England 
and France allied themselves with the Sultan Abdul- 
Medjid, and in the spring of 1854 landed their army at 
Varna. Austria occupied the Danubian principalities, 
while the Turks successfully defended Silistria, and the 
allies transferred their troops to the Crimea. The in- 
vasion of the Crimea was one of the most disastrous 



338 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

and one of the fiercest engagements of modern war- 
fare. Only the forces of little Sardinia, under the able 
direction of Count Cavour, escaped from its destructive 
results with slight loss of life. Sevastopol fell in 
September, 1855, and Moscow was set on fire. 
Nicholas, in chagrin at the defeat and the complete 
failure of his plans, died, broken-hearted, March 2, 1855. 
Then the English and French governments stepped in 
and treated with Russia at once, as the Power which 
affected their interests more than it did the interests of 
Turkey. All the way through, during negotiations and 
war, this principle prevailed, while Turkey, without 
much exertion of her own, stood by and watched the 
Western Powers who fought her battles and main- 
tained her integrity. 

On the 25th of February, 1856, a congress was 
called at Paris, where Alexander II. appeared, with 
England, France, Austria, Prussia, Sardinia, and 
Turkey. The object of the congress was, of course, 
to effect a treaty of peace. The treaty was signed on 
the basis that Russia should give to Turkey the por- 
tion of Bessarabia adjacent to the mouth of the Dan- 
ube, and abolish its exclusive protectorate over the 
Danubian principalities. The Black Sea should be 
made neutral ; while its waters were to be open to mer- 
chant vessels of all nations. Neither Russia nor Turkey 
should maintain warships or create arsenals there, and 
each should keep but ten lightships to watch the coast. 

The signing of the Paris Treaty, March 30, 1856, by 
the above-named representative Powers, formally ended 
the war. The independence and territorial integrity 
of Turkey seemed assured, and the controversies 



THE EASTERN QUESTION. 339 

about the Christian provinces, the Straits, and the 
Black Sea were thought to be settled. 

Meanwhile the Sultan issued a firman granting 
perfect religious equality between Christians and Mo- 
hammedans and designed to ameliorate the condition 
of his Christian subjects. That such a promise on the 
part of the Porte is a sham, and simply designed to 
throw dust in the eyes of Europe, is obvious from the 
very fact that the Turk holds the Koran above the 
Sultan, and the Koran recognizes no possibility of 
equality between an infidel and a believer in Mo- 
hammed. Therefore the Turks could not be made to 
obey the decree of their ruler declaring such equality. 
One of the most foolish stipulations of the treaty was 
that the concert of Europe should have no right to in- 
terfere, either collectively or separately, in the relations 
between the Sultan and his subjects. This clause of 
the treaty really committed the Christians to the ten- 
der hands of the unspeakable Turk, who has always 
held them in bondage. The relations between the 
Porte and its Christian subjects could mean nothing 
less than acts of outrage and murder on the part of the 
Turks. Such has always been the character of those 
relations. It was provided by this treaty, however, that 
the Christian Powers should fold their arms and stand 
by, giving the Turk a free rein for all sorts of bar- 
barity and carnage, which have ever characterized his 
relations with his subjects. When Lord Stratford de 
Redcliffe, that man of great diplomatic craft, heard of 
the Paris Treaty, he said : 

V I would rather have cut off my right hand than 
have signed that treaty." 



340 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

In a letter written at that time, he said : 

How are the Sultan's reforms to be carried through — the 
allied troops all gone, and no power of foreign interference 
reserved? How is the country to be kept quiet if hopes and 
fears, equally excited in adverse quarters, have to find their own 
level ? What means shall we possess of allaying the discordant 
elements if our credit is to decline and our influence to be 
overlaid by the persevering artifices of a jealous and artful ally ? 
How can we hope to supply the usefulness derivable from our 
command of the Contingent and Irregulars, if they are to be 
given up ? In short, when I hear the politicians of the country 
remark that the troubles of Europe with respect to this empire 
are only beginning, I know not how to reply. 

Indeed, in subsequent years the isolated inter- 
vention of the Powers, under the ignoble spirit of low 
jealousies, has proved the death warrant of the Chris- 
tians under Ottoman sway. Only four years after the 
Treaty of Paris, the Sultan celebrated his reforms with 
the massacre of over ten thousand Syrians at Lebanon. 

In 1875 the Christians in Bosnia and Herzegovina 
were forced to take up arms to protect themselves 
from Turkish oppression. The insurrection spread 
to such an extent that the Turks were unable to 
cope with it. Austria sent the famous Andrassy 
Note, demanding immediate reforms in the Balkan 
Peninsula ; then the Porte played its old game, and 
promised that the religious equality of its subjects 
should be maintained. It also gave the assurance that 
the farming of taxes would be abolished and that the 
tax money levied in the rebellious provinces would be 
expended there. The insurgents, however, placed no 
confidence in these promises, and joined with Servia in 
declining to accept the terms. 



THE EASTERN QUESTION. 34I 

In 1876 the Turks, acting at the suggestion of the 
English Foreign Office, made a determined effort to 
restore quiet in the perturbed .provinces, by a severe 
enforcement of military law. It was sought to intimi- 
date the insurgents by an exhibition of rigorous mili- 
tary law. Bulgaria was to be made an object lesson. 

Then followed the massacre of Bulgarians by the 
wholesale. They were tortured with nameless cruel- 
ties. At the churches, whither they had fled for 
refuge, they were found dead in heaps. Women were 
outraged, and such infernal tortures as only the Turk 
can devise were inflicted upon unresisting and help- 
less Christians. Only the massacre of the Armenians 
of to-day, a description of which will be found in a 
subsequent chapter, can give an idea of the barbarity 
and cunning of the Turks during their campaign of 
butchery among the Bulgarians. In all the preceding 
and subsequent massacres of the Christians the Turk 
simply acted in accordance with the relations between 
himself and his subjects which the Powers have main- 
tained and respected. 

The horror of these acts caused a revulsion of feel- 
ing which rose to fever heat in England, and sympathy 
for the Turks apparently waned. Mr. Gladstone, then 
in the zenith of his power, put himself at the head of 
the loud uproar that spread like wildfire through the 
country : " Better the Russians on the Bosphorus than 
the Turks in Europe." The policy of protecting the 
Sultan from the vengeance of his subjects was not only 
relinquished by England but by the Powers at large ; 
and this very situation presented exactly the oppor- 
tunity that the Emperor of Russia desired, for he was 



342 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

not the man to lose his chances when he had the 
advantage of the British sentiment. He, therefore, 
claimed again the protectorate of Christians, and 
informed the Powers that if they would not co-operate 
Russia was prepared to end the Turkish misrule alone. 
The diplomatic corps of Europe, headed by the 
British ambassador, hastened to the Porte, and remon- 
strated with the Sultan, urging him to accept their advice 
concerning immediate reforms for improving the situ- 
ation ; and, as the basis of their policy for reform, they 
simultaneously prepared a precise programme and 
insisted upon the Sultan, in all possible ways, assenting 
to its terms, if he wished to avoid a serious rupture with 
Russia. The Sultan, however, baffled the Powers in 
their clamors for reform, and refused' to yield to the 
counsel and entreaties presented. Thereupon, their 
patience was exhausted. Even Lord Beaconsfield, the 
great supporter of the Turks, was obliged to remain 
neutral. 

In April, 1877, war was declared by Russia. It was 
a short contest, lasting only about nine months, and 
resulting in the overwhelming defeat of the Turks. 
Their tactics during the war were sanguinary in the 
extreme. So great was the fear of the Czar's officers 
of the fiendish inhumanities of the Turks that many 
were careful to be in possession of poison, so that, in 
the event of their being taken alive by the enemy, they 
miofht end their miserable existence. Throughout the 
war the Russians were very considerate in their treat- 
ment of Turkish prisoners. 

The story of the war need not be related here at any 
length. The Russian army, over two hundred thou- 



THE EASTERN QUESTION. 343 

sand strong, crossed the Danube. Osman Pasha made 
a heroic defense at Plevna and stormed the Shipka 
Pass. However, the Russian soldiers unflinchingly 
advanced through the Balkans, entered Bulgaria, 
captured Adrianople, and were within the very out- 
skirts of Constantinople, when a halt was called. The 
British fleet had appeared outside the Dardanelles and 
anchored in Besika Bay. At San Stefano a treaty of 
peace was concluded. By the terms of this treaty 
Russia received the portion of Bessarabia which she 
had lost in the Crimean War, together with Dobrandja, 
Kars, Batoum, and the adjoining Asiatic territory. It 
also recognized the establishment of Bulgaria into an 
autonomous principality; a territorial compensation or 
payment of a heavy indemnity; the absolute independ- 
ence of Servia, Roumania, and Montenegro, with ex- 
tended territory ; the introduction of needed reforms 
by a European commission in Bosnia, Herzegovina, 
Crete, Thessaly, and Epirus. Added to these stipula- 
tions of the treaty, the Czar and the Porte had come to 
a final understanding in regard to the Straits and the 
evacuation by the Turks of the Danube fortresses. 
These terms of the San Stefano Treaty caused a great 
alarm in the diplomatic circles of Great Britain, and her 
fleet returned in haste through the Dardanelles and 
anchored at Princes' Island, and there made a vigorous 
demonstration for war. Meanwhile England and Austria 
announced their refusal to give their assent to the 
conditions of peace, because of the advantages Russia 
had secured for herself, in violation of the terms of the 
Paris Treaty, and demanded that the Powers should be 
given a fair chance to reconsider, so as to discuss, ratify, 



344 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

or annul the terms of the Treaty of San Stefano. 
Russia reluctantly consented to disgorge her conquests 
and to submit the treaty to a European conference. 
Meanwhile England made a secret treaty with Turkey, 
in which Great Britain undertook to defend the Porte by 
force of arms, in the event of Russia's making a future 
attempt to take any more than Batoum, Ardahan, and 
Kars of the Sultan's possessions in Asia. In return, 
the Porte assigned the island of Cyprus to be occupied 
and administered by England, and promised to intro- 
duce reforms looking toward the amelioration of the 
condition of the Christian subjects. 

The proposed conference assembled at Berlin in 
July, 1878. It was perhaps the most notable con- 
course of European diplomats in modern history. 
The British jingoism which was robbing Russia of 
the principal results of her war with Turkey, by forcing 
this conference upon the court of St. Petersburg, had 
as its chief representative Disraeli, a man of keen and 
shrewd diplomacy. So superior was he in craft to his 
right-hand man, Lord Salisbury, that he evoked the 
historical remark of Gortschakoff to Bismarck. 
"Salisbury," said the Russian plenipotentiary, "is a 
lath, painted to look like iron, but," referring to 
Disraeli, "oh, that d d Jew!" 

Disraeli had carried his point in triumph. Not only 
the Treaty of San Stefano had been thrown aside, but 
the Porte recognized in the English its greatest friend 
and ally. At the conference a new concert was agreed 
upon between the seven great Powers — England, Rus- 
sia, Germany, Austria, France, Italy, and Turkey. The 
Berlin Treaty consists of sixty-four articles. Bulgaria, 



THE EASTERN QUESTION. 345 

north of the Balkans, was made a principality paying 
tribute, but exempt from Turkish rule. South of the 
mountain range was formed the province of Eastern 
Roumelia, ruled by a Christian governor general, 
but nominally under the Sultan's political authority. 
Roumania and Servia were formally declared independ- 
ent. Herzegovina and Bosnia were given to Austria. 
Besides Bessarabia, Russia acquired Batoum, Kars, 
and Ardahan, in Asia. 

That the decision of the Berlin Congress did not 
settle the Eastern Question is plain, in the light of 
subsequent events. It must be remembered that in 
receiving Cyprus for her part England made a pledge 
to enforce good government in Armenia, and the 
Sultan made the following specific and solemn promise 
in the sixty-first article of the treaty : 

The Sublime Porte undertakes to carry out, without further 
delay, the improvements and reforms demanded by local require- 
ments in the provinces inhabited by Armenians, and to guarantee 
their security against Circassians and Kurds. It will periodically 
make known the steps taken to this effect to the Powers, who will 
superintend their application. 

This article of the treaty not only gave a guarantee 
of security for the property, life, and liberty of the 
Christians, but it gave the signatory Powers, par- 
ticularly England, the right to take action. Yet the 
lethargy of the Powers in general, and of England in 
particular, is hard to realize, still harder to explain. 
Actuated by mutual distrust and jealousy, the diplomacy 
of the Eastern Question has been a game of blindman's 
buff with every player's eyes bandaged. The effort to 



346 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

maintain the European concert seems to be impossible, 
in view of underground and entangling alliances. Bis- 
marck's recent revelations, for instance, disclose an ex- 
ample of such mischievous trickery of diplomacy as to 
prevent the effective action of the nations concerned in 
the European balance of power. 

When Christian nations do not combine to put down 
the evil acts of the Turks, the inference becomes obvi- 
ous that either the evil of the Turks is not very bad, 
or the Christian nations hardly deserve their name. 
What is clear, in the light of actual conditions in the 
Ottoman Empire, is that the Turk is an absolute in- 
carnation of evil. He has always broken his solemn 
pledges and promises of decent government, and has 
made the lives of his Christian subjects a veritable hell 
on earth, with outrage, robbery, and wholesale mas- 
sacres ; and certainly he has falsified all excuses for his 
political existence. However, he understands the 
Powers to perfection, and uses the advantage derived 
from their mutual jealousies over his possessions in 
playing one Power against the other, in which art he 
has become an expert from years of practice. 

If there is any Power in the world responsible above 
others for giving the Turk such an advantage, at the ex- 
pense of the blood of many thousands of Christians, 
it is England. For about a hundred years Great 
Britain has made the Turkish Power a pawn in the game 
of her imperial politics. She has frequently stepped 
in and helped the Turkish armies when they were on 
the verge of annihilation ; and, by so doing, has enabled 
the Turks to continue their career of blood. 

Since the Crimean War, particularly, there has been 



THE EASTERN QUESTION. 347 

an increasing feeling of hatred against the English on 
the part of Christians in Turkey. These plundered 
and outraged subjects of the Porte, when they were in 
a position to raise a formidable revolutionary opposition, 
were intimidated or repressed by force of English arms. 
For instance, in 1862, the Servians, after the bombard- 
ment of Bulgaria, made a determined attempt to supply 
themselves with munitions of war. They were just 
about to secure good arms through an English firm, 
when the British government stepped in and prevented 
the deal from being carried out. In this way the Ser- 
vians were unable to secure efficient arms. When at last 
they secured some second-hand Russian arms, they did 
so against the direct opposition of the English consul 
general, who at the same time aided the Turks in every 
possible way. Again, in 1876, when the Bosnians were 
striking a blow for freedom, Great Britain did all she 
could to discourage the insurgents and to aid the Sul- 
tan. Mr. Holmes, the consul general in Serajevo, 
acting in accord with the position taken by the British 
Cabinet, urged upon the vali to take steps at once to 
sweep the insurgents out of Bosnia. England has thus 
nearly always aided the Sultan, to the detriment of the 
Christians. She has done this, not because the Sultan 
has her good wishes, but because in her perpetuation of 
his present control of the Straits, lies the most appar- 
ent safety of England's commercial intercourse with 
her vast Indian empire. And she is determined that 
Russia, her naval rival, shall not get an inch of advan- 
tage over her in Turkish waters. Other commercial 
considerations also have weight ; for the merchants of 
the English nation hold the chief share of trade through 



348 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

the Bosphorus, up the Danube, and with Black Sea and 
Sea of Azof ports. 

Should Russia or any other hostile power hold Con- 
stantinople and its straits, it would endanger this trade 
as well as threaten the Indian commerce and communi- 
cation. The financial consideration, too, — the many 
millions of Turkish pounds of which the English are 
bondholders, — enters into the issues of the English policy 
on the Eastern Question. Morever, the Sultan is the 
visible head of the Mohammedan religion, and England 
could not oppose him without deeply offending more 
than half her subjects in India. If the Sultan is 
friendly to England, she has a powerful ally whose in- 
fluence in a crisis in India would mean considerable. 
On the English policy in the Eastern Question, Mr. 
John Bright, in an address, has made the following 
straightforward utterance : 

England imagines that some great danger will happen to her; 
that she will lose her predominance in the Mediterranean, or that 
her route to India will be in some degree molested, if a Russian 
ship of war should come through the Straits, and therefore Eng- 
land is anxious to maintain Turkey in its present position, hold- 
ing the key of the Straits, and forbidding any portion of the Rus- 
sian navy to pass from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. 
Now, you see, England, — I speak of England as it has been, and 
England as represented by the present administration— England 
is afraid that if the Turk went out the Russian would come in, 
and therefore we are driven to this dreadful alternative, that we 
must support the Turk, with all his crimes, and with all his cruelty, 
and we must support too, as we did practically support, the Mo- 
hammedan religion throughout the whole of that portion of the 
world. We give Bethlehem and Calvary and the Mount of 
Olives, through the blood and treasure of England, and the 
power over all those vast countries, which are almost a wilder- 




LORD SALISBURY, PRIME MINISTER OF GREAT BRITAIN. 



350 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

ness and a desert under the Turkish scepter— we do all this for 
the simple purpose of preventing Russia passing by any ships of 
war from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. 

Even Lord Salisbury himself in a mild tone admitted 
the ignoble character of the policy, in his assertion in 
1858, that 

. . . The consequence was that on the continent of Europe 
our claims to be regarded as the champions of liberty were looked 
upon as hypocritical boastings; for while we were loud in our 
professions we were lax in our practice. 

The Armenian massacres of to-day have once more 
brought the Eastern Question prominently before the 
world. While these massacres have virtually the same 
leading features as the previous ones, they have given 
a different complexion to the Eastern Question. Eng- 
land and Russia have exchanged positions in their 
traditional attitude toward the Turkish government. 
England has come to the conviction that the Ottoman 
Empire is hopelessly corrupt and that it had better 
be ended than mended. With this conviction, Great 
Britain appeared ready and anxious to treat with the 
Powers for Turkey's destruction. To prove that this 
was not idle talk, she sent a fleet to the Dardanelles 
and threatened to send it to Constantinople. Indeed, at 
one time it appeared as though the Powers were united 
with England in this aim and conviction, and were 
really acting together in earnest for a common object. 
Squadrons sailed under six flags on their way to make 
a demonstration, and the most powerful fleet ever 
gathered together assembled at Salonica Bay. Nobody 
seemed to know which way the storm was coming, and 



THE EASTERN QUESTION. 35 1 

there was no little guessing in regard to the direction of 
its blast. 

The most expert students of the troublesome Eastern 
Question are still at a loss to imagine what will be the 
next chapter of its tedious history. There was sud- 
denly a hitch in the understanding arrived at between the 
Powers. The European concert was broken ; for while 
they were advocating peace, each Power was trying to 
get ahead of the others in securing the largest possible 
slice of Turkey. Meanwhile the massacres went on. 
Although Russia and France are in alliance, yet they 
appear diametrically opposed in case the partition of 
the Sultan's domain be effected. France wants Syria 
and Palestine ; while Russia wants Constantinople, to 
which the French are unalterably opposed. The Czar 
dare not let the Holy City fall into the hands of a 
Roman Catholic nation, for it might cost him his 
throne. Austria would not consent to Russia's possess- 
ing Constantinople and the Balkan Peninsula. The 
question of Macedonia also enters into the issue and 
makes more complex the solution of the problem. It 
was these and other underhand complications that 
proved too strong to allow of joint action in the East. 
The Sultan, a perfect master of the situation, has become 
convinced that his country is safe from any external 
interference ; so he continues to oppose and ignore the 
demands and threats of foreign Powers, and was even 
quite indifferent as to the fortifying of his domain for 
the remotely probable necessity of a defensive stand. 
The consequence of this resolute attitude on the part 
of the Porte was that the governments of Europe 
quickly withdrew their ironclads, with the unpleasant 



352 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

consciousness that a very large mountain had brought 
forth a ridiculously small mouse. 

The latest events clearlv indicate that Russia, after 
the lesson taught her by the Berlin Congress, and the 
preceding events, that no power should step outside the 
European concert to deal with Turkey by force of arms, 
persistently declined forcible interference, and entered 
into an alliance with the Sultan on the lines of the 
Hunkiar-Skelessi, and gave it to be clearly understood 
that she will not tolerate it on the part of others. 
Meanwhile the Czar has turned his attention from 
European Turkey to China. 

The scope of the Eastern Question has enlarged 
of late. While it originally related to the troubles that 
arose between the Greek Christians and the Turks, 
to-day the question virtually is : " Who shall have con- 
trolling influence over all of Asia — England or Russia ? " 

The Armenian massacre is but a little incident when 
compared with the tremendous issues involved in this 
greatest of international agitations. Indeed, centuries 
will pass, and millions of lives be sacrificed, before the 
Eastern Question will be settled. However, it is not 
within the province of this volume to engage exten- 
sively in the discussion of it. The following chapters 
will be occupied with the internal commotions pre- 
vailing in the Turkish Empire. 



THE CHRONIC CONDITION OF ARMENIA, 
AND THE CAUSES OF HER TRAGE- 
DIES. 



"They are slaves who fear to speak 
For the fallen and the weak; 
They are slaves who will not choose 
Hatred, scoffing, and abuse, 
Rather than in silence shrink 
From the truth they needs must think; 
They are slaves who dare not be 
In the right with two or three." 

— James Russell Lowell. 

THAT my reader may the more fully comprehend 
the extent of the calamity at this moment threaten- 
ing our unhappy people, it is necessary that I should 
give some account of the chronic condition of the 
Armenian provinces. 

Many years before the recent massacres, and more 
particularly since the accession of the present Sultan, 
the general condition of the five southeastern prov- 
inces, — Van, Bitlis, Moush, Bayazed, and Diarbekir, — 
which in the main comprise our lost country, has been 
one of deliberate misgovernment and of uncompromis- 
ing outrage. There has been an almost uninterrupted 
reign of terror, with daily increasing evidences of un- 
lawful depredations, and the moral effect has been to 
place the life and property of the Armenians at the 
mercy of every Moslem. 

353 



354 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

The Kurdish tribes of the bordering mountains — 
unmitigated rogues, thieves, and cutthroats by birth — 
were deliberately cut loose by the Turkish government 
to prey upon the Armenian peasantry. The Kurds, in 
turn, ever true to their natural instincts of plunder and 
robbery, sharing to some extent the Moslem antipathy 
for the Christian, kept up a systematic campaign against 
their peaceable Armenian neighbors, who had no 
greater desire than to be let alone to enjoy the labor of 
their hands and the worship of their ancestral religion. 
The poor victims, disarmed by the Turkish government, 
were hopelessly incapable of anything like self-defense. 
In order to remove all possible danger, not only were 
the Kurds exempted from taxation, but, in the year 
1891, the Sultan hit upon the policy of making them 
over into a kind of irregular Turkish army ; and, equip- 
ping them with the best of modern weapons and am- 
munition, in place of their ancient flintlocks, he let them 
loose in their mountain homes, instead of keeping them 
in regular service. Under such an organized brigand- 
age all the fiercest barbaric passions were set free, 
unbridled and unchecked, while the Turkish officials 
watched with happy satisfaction the rapid devastation 
of Armenian industry. Midnight raids upon Armenian 
villages, looting houses, attacking caravans, carrying off 
crops, lifting cattle, burning corn and hay, kidnaping 
children, dishonoring women, became a sort of pleasant 
and profitable pastime with the Kurdish aghes. Not 
only did the Turkish government place no restraint 
upon the Kurds, but it actually incited them with re- 
wards for excess in ferocity. It is considered presump- 
tion and insolence for an Armenian to complain to the 



THE CHRONIC CONDITION OF ARMENIA. 355 

officials for wrongs done him by the Kurds and Turks, 
and his protests are not only utterly disregarded, but he 
is thrown into prison to be tortured and outraged. 
Such has been the fate of hundreds of Armenians, par- 
ticularly in the vilayet and city of Bitlis ; and when 
once in the noisome dungeon, nothing but death or the 
payment of large bribes could secure their release. 
Truth may sound stranger than fiction, yet there are 
still stranger truths of Turkish brute tyranny of which 
I dare not speak, for their meaning could be found no- 
where but in the regions of hell. 

Bad as the Kurd is, in justice let me say he is not 
half so bad as the Turk. To the truth of this asser- 
tion any Armenian who has lived in his neighborhood 
can wholly subscribe. It is true that the Kurd loots 
houses, plunders property, and, when resisted, commits 
murder ; but he has some little sense of pity and hu- 
manity, and some regard for the truth, which is more 
than can be said of the Turk. The Kurds plunder and 
murder for the sake of booty, while the Turk regards 
the plunder and murder of non-Moslems as a religious 
privilege and duty. It is the Turk who holds the reins 
of the government, and it is he who is the real aggres- 
sor every time, while the Kurd is simply a tool in his 
hands to carry out his deliberately planned policy of 
exterminating the Armenians. In him are combined 
the pugnacity of the bulldog, the ferocity of the tiger, 
and the cunning of the fox. Allured by the prospect 
of a paradise of voluptuous pleasure, he is eager to 
fling himself into the fight against the infidel in the 
name of Allah and the Prophet. 

The Turk's increasing intolerance towards the Chris- 



356 



THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 



tians has by no means been confined to the Armenian 
provinces. In the summer of the year 1889, while in 





MOSLEM CUTTHROATS IN ARMENIA. 



Constantinople, I visited the Turkish prison in search 
of an intimate friend and schoolmate, who was on trial 
for his life for having written an essay on Mohammed- 
anism. The indictment was based upon the following 



THE CHRONIC CONDITION OF ARMENIA. 357 

words, with which the unsuspecting schoolboy had 
closed his ambitious literary effort: " May the happy 
day soon come when the cross. of Christ will triumph 
over the crescent of Mohammed." While in a Turkish 
dungeon, to my dismay I found many Armenians, mostly 
of the higher classes, who were imprisoned on base- 
less and often most ridiculously absurd political charges. 
I saw there a venerable priest of our national church, 
whose mild and fatherly countenance was overshadowed 
with the gloom of despair, as he sat meditating upon 
his impending doom. His crime was a pious entreaty 
to his flock to gather under the banner of Christ Jesus. 
This purely religious sentiment had been interpreted as 
a seditious utterance against the Turkish government. 
Such a thing may perhaps appear incredible to a free- 
born American, yet one needs only to know the Turk 
in order to learn how excitable is his imagination, and 
what a wonderful capacity he has for creating pretexts 
out of the veriest trifles to enable him to carry out his 
nefarious plans. 

Here are a few examples of the prohibitory edicts 
which have gone forth : No dictionary shall be allowed 
to circulate which contains such words as "liberty," 
"equality," "evolution," "insurrection," "war," as such 
words might incite the minds of the people. The 
translation of the hymn, 

"The children are gathering from near and far, 
The trumpet is sounding the call for the war," 

is forbidden as being revolutionary. In the Lord's 
Prayer, " Thy kingdom come," and all similar passages 
of the Scriptures suggestive of dominion, power, and 



358 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

battle ; and such phrases as " Kingdom of Heaven," 
" Kingdom of Christ " ; or such words as " According 
to the law of the Jews," are strictly forbidden. Even 
the word "Armenia" has been stricken out of every 
book. Should papers and books published outside of 
the Ottoman Empire displease in any way the Turkish 
censors or the press, the mere possessor of them, if 
detected, is at once placed behind the bars and dealt 
with according to Turkish justice. I have known of 
persons who, having once been thrown into prison 
upon such trivial accusations, have never again been 
allowed to see God's free sunshine. Of late years the 
Armenians have hardly been allowed to breathe without 
being accused of unheard-of crimes and locked up. 

The bitter hostility of the present Sultan to the 
Christian element of his population has become more 
and more manifest every year. One of his first acts, 
after his accession to the throne, was to replace 
ArmeiTiansby Turks in all the high official positions of 
the state which the competence and integrity of our 
people had secured for them during the reign of Abdul- 
Aziz. That a few Armenians still hold high govern- 
mental posts is due to the fact that there is not 
competence enough among the Turks to warrant their 
removal. 

Early in 1893 it appeared as though the crisis had 
been reached and the gathering storm was soon to 
burst from western Turkey instead of from the 
Armenian provinces; but the storm passed off at the 
time with comparatively little damage to the Christians, 
yet with sufficient indications that it would break over 
the Armenians sooner or later. 



360 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

On the night of the 5th of January, 1894, in my 
native city Marsovan, and in Yuzgat, hundreds of 
placards were posted in public places with words of 
bitter denunciation of Turkish corruption and oppres- 
sion. This created a great excitement among the 
Turks and occasioned the wholesale arrest of hundreds 
of Armenians in the province. Some of the prisoners 
were tortured into insanity, and false witnesses were 
produced by the Turkish authorities to implicate the 
entire Armenian population in a plot for the posting 
of placards in the two cities and then order a general 
massacre. The fact of the matter is that it is still a 
profound mystery as to who was the author or the pub- 
lisher of the placards, whether it was done by the Arme- 
nian Huntchagians or by the Young Turkey Party, 
which is equally hostile to the existing administration. 

Among those arrested were two of my former 
teachers, Professor Thoumaian and Kayayan of Ana- 
tolia College. While there was not sufficient evidence 
of their connection with the issuing of the placards 
to warrant their arrest, nevertheless they were put into 
close confinement, bail was refused, and no one was 
permitted to visit them. Meanwhile lawless Turkish 
mobs committed all sorts of outrages in Marsovan, 
Yuzgat, and Caesarea. One of the buildings of the 
Young Ladies' Seminary at Marsovan, which was in 
process of erection, was burned to the ground. The 
guilt of the Turkish officials in setting fire to this 
American property having been conclusively established, 
the United States, with firmness and resolution, 
demanded indemnity, and finally secured it, together 
with a permit to rebuild. 



THE CHRONIC CONDITION OF ARMENIA. 361 

When the trial of the professors came on they were 
condemned to death, with fifteen other Armenians. 
The trial was from start to finish thoroughly in accord 
with Turkish ideas of justice. Lord Rosebery, upon 
reviewing the case, declared that " all the evidence 
which has come to us from impartial British officials in 
Asia Minor, from the neighborhood of Angora, made 
it perfectly clear that the trial was not a fair trial ; that 
the evidence of the prisoners did not receive sufficient 
weight even when it was admitted." 

While on appeal the death sentences were confirmed, 
yet the rank and the influence of the professors had a 
useful result in making their case known in Europe. 
Professor Thoumaian was an alumnus of Luzern Uni- 
versity, and his wife, a high-bred and accomplished 
Swiss lady, was in Europe at the time. She, with the 
assistance of friends, aroused popular sentiment in 
England, and, finally, in spite of the verdict of the 
Court of Appeals, secured the release of these two 
gentlemen on condition of their leaving the country. 

The circumstances attending the trial fill one with 
indignation. Not only were all sorts of insults hurled 
at the professors by petty officials, but over twenty 
forms of diabolical torture were employed to extort 
confessions incriminating the victims and their friends. 
Even before their trial the learned gentlemen were 
subjected to indignities in every respect similar to 
the treatment of convicts of the lowest order, and 
were so heavily loaded with fetters as to be utterly 
unable to walk. 

In the summer the state of affairs in the Turkish 
Empire was verging upon anarchy. The Christian 



362 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

subjects throughout the country were exposed to the 
most atrocious treatment by the officials. Taxes were 
levied so heavily that their collection caused unbearable 
hardships to the already impoverished people. Armeni- 
ans everywhere were thrust into prison, and, notwith- 
standing the Turkish law that no tortures shall be 
inflicted on prisoners, they were subjected to inhumani- 
ties of a diabolical nature. Many ministers of the 
Gospel were driven away, imprisoned, or banished. 
This has been the fate of the Protestant pastors in 
Marsovan ; everyone that came was driven away, and 
there is now no regular minister there. One of them, 
the Rev. G. H. Filian, barely escaped with his life to 
the United States. The Protestant pastors at Sungurlu 
and Yuzgat were driven away, and those at Chakmak 
and Gemerek were imprisoned for no charge whatever 
but preaching upon religious themes. Many Christian 
ministers whom I knew and loved while at home 
are to-day silent for ever ; yet their example of martyr- 
dom in testimony of Christ Jesus speaks even louder 
than their most fervent words of loyalty to Him. 

SUMMARY OF CAUSES OF MASSACRES. 

Before entering upon the next chapter, on the 
Armenian Massacres, I shall endeavor to give a sum- 
mary of the causes which have brought about the 
crisis. 

The first cause that I can assign to the tragedies is 
the religious antipathy of the Mohammedan Turks, 
who are taught to slaughter all opposed to their faith, 
and in whose brutal vocabulary " dog " is a synonym 



THE CHRONIC CONDITION OF ARMENIA. 363 

for " Christian." Upon this cause I have dwelt at 
length in the chapter on Mohammedanism. 

The second cause is the racial antipathy. Turkey 
is not made up of Turks only, but its subjects are of 
diverse races, religions, and ideas. The Turks have 
failed in commingling these different races, as the 
ancient Romans failed in commingling different races 
into one homogeneous nation. Therefore, these dif- 
ferent elements have been at war, and have each main- 
tained different degrees of civilization, different modes 
of thinking, and different occupations in life; so 
that each people retains its national characteristics, 
manners, and customs. And it has been the method of 
the dominant race, the Turks, to secure homogeneity 
as it has always tried to secure uniformity in religion, 
by the edge of the sword instead of by employing the 
peaceful agencies of civilization. 

The third cause is European diplomacy. The vexa- 
tious intervention of the Powers in the affairs of the 
Turks, instead of healing up the difference between 
them and the Armenians, has aggravated it. The 
conscienceless shrewdness of the Sultan has noted the 
cowardice and perfidy of the European governments, 
and he has made them dance to any tune he chose 
to play. 

The fourth cause is that the Armenians have im- 
bibed the spirit of the nineteenth century, and so have 
outstripped the Turks in civilization and intelligence. 
The advancement of our people in learning, science, 
and commerce has aroused the jealousy of the Turks, 
who have always stood for the old regime — in other 
words, for stagnation. The Turks grow more and 



364 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

more intolerant of the Armenians, on account of their 
supremacy in the march of civilization. All methods 
to pull the Armenians down to their own level having 
failed, they have resorted to the summary process of 
cutting their throats. 

The last, yet not the least, cause of the Armenian 
outrages, is in the well-founded consciousness of the 
Turks that Anatolia will be their last refuge when 
they are driven out of Europe and their possessions are 
taken from them by the Powers ; and they are anxious 
to have this last resort free from complications of 
Armenian claims. In order to attain this desired end, 
they have set out to diminish the number of the 
Armenians by wholesale massacres, and are invoking 
Mohammedan bigotry and fanaticism in the work of 
extermination. 

The Turkish version of the causes of this reign of 
terror throws all the blame upon the Armenians, 
of course. They endeavor to pose before the world 
as being desirous to preserve the peace, The Sultan 
at first with unruffled nerve denied the entire affair of 
the Sassoun massacre ; and when it had been too well 
authenticated to be denied, he came boldly forward 
and laid all the blame upon the Armenian revolu- 
tionists as a justification for his crueltv. I do not 
deny the existence and the active propagandism of 
such a movement. I do not even deny that, to some 
extent, the religious war has been stimulated by 
Armenian political agitators. But I contend that 
such a movement, though hostile to the existing 
administration, was intertwined with the growth of 
governmental oppression ; and that some Armenians, 



366 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

driven by long years of Turkish barbarity and cruel 
misgovernment into a frame of mind akin to nihilism, 
have made it their patriotic duty to preach the policy 
of insurrection as the only means of calling the atten- 
tion of the Powers to their grievances and urging 
them to fulfill their promises of decent government in 
Armenia. Moreover, while there have been at times 
overt acts on the part of the Huntchagian revolu- 
tionists, for some of which they deserve our con- 
demnation ; yet the extent to which they have 
succeeded in stirring up actual revolution has been 
grossly exaggerated by the Turkish government. I 
consider it cruelly absurd to point out the few 
smoldering fires of revolution as if they were charac- 
teristic of the whole nation. The Huntchagian move- 
ment is not and never has been a national movement ; 
its membership is small ; and for its acts, whether wise 
or otherwise, none but the society should be held 
accountable. To make a sweeping condemnation of 
the whole race, and deliberately bend every energy 
upon their extirmination for the deeds of a few hand- 
fuls of revolutionists, is one of the manifestations of the 
Turkish sense of justice. Yet the Turk must have 
pretexts, and throughout his barbarous career he has 
never been lacking in the fine art of their manufacture. 
In Constantinople, for instance, took place one of 
the most inexcusable of the butcheries that horrified the 
civilized world in the fall of 1896. Some twenty-four 
Armenians from abroad had seized the Ottoman 
National Bank and had insisted upon holding it until 
the Sultan should grant their demands : To execute the 
promised Reform Scheme under European super- 



368 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

vision ; that there be no massacres in the city on 
account of the outbreak ; that the members of the 
party in possession of the bank be given safe-con- 
duct out of the empire, and that, pending negotiations, 
the troops be withdrawn from the vicinity of the bank. 
In case of the Sultan's refusal of these conditions, the 
Armenians threatened to blow up the bank, with them- 
selves and the whole staff of the establishment. The 
Sultan not only allowed them safe-conduct out of 
the country after their exploit, but he furnished 
each of them with a considerable sum of money when 
they were put on board for France. Before they had 
made their triumphant exit from the bank, however, 
thousands of innocent Armenians in the city, who had 
nothing to do with the revolutionary exploits, — who 
did not even have any knowledge of what had hap- 
pened, — were brutally battered to pieces with heavy 
clubs. Had the Turkish government held down the 
mob, and had it taken the bank by storm, limiting 
vengeance to those actually engaged in anarchical 
proceedings, it would have been justified in the 
eyes of Europe. This is representative of many of the 
cases in which the Armenians are held by unscrupulous 
defenders of the Sultan to be aeoressors. In most of 
the massacres the Turks took the initiative without 
having the least pretext for their unspeakable 
barbarities. 

The Armenians, brave and patriotic as they are, are 
utterly unable to throw off the Turkish yoke by them- 
selves. A general rising of our people against the 
Turks, such as took place among the Slavonian Chris- 
tians, — Servians, Bulgarians, Roumanians, and Greeks, 



THE CHRONIC CONDITION OF ARMENIA. 369 

— is impossible. Our people are neither armed nor 
disciplined, nor organized to proclaim rebellion and 
openly stand the chances of a civil war. For, in the 
first place, the Turks greatly outnumber us ; and, in 
the second place, we are not confined to a certain 
locality like the Bulgarians and others, but are helplessly 
scattered over the Ottoman Empire — in fact, overall the 
world. The Slavonian Christians succeeded, because 
not only were they concentrated in a certain territory, 
but they had more or less support from their European 
co-religionists. Our people have no co-religionists in 
Europe, and we have not the hope of Europe's inter- 
vention on our behalf. So our unhappy countrymen 
are left to their fate, helpless and hopeless. 



THE TURKISH CAMPAIGN OF BUTCHERY. 



" Caliph, I did thee wrong. I hailed thee late 
Abdul the Damned, and would recall my word. 
It merged thee with the unillustrious herd 
Who crowd the approaches to the infernal gate, 
Spirits gregarious, equal in their state, 
As is the innumerable ocean bird, 
Gannet or gull, whose wandering plaint is heard 
On Ailsa or Iona desolate; 
For in a world where cruel deeds abound 
The merely damned are legion. With such souls 
Is not each hollow and cranny of Tophet crammed? 
Thou with the brightest of hell's aureoles 
Dost shine supreme, incomparably crowned, 
Immortally beyond all mortals damned." 

— William Watson. 

MY reader may now turn to Sassoun, where, as the 
initiative of a long series of massacres, took 
place the most outrageous of Turkish atrocities, in 
September, 1894. 

The Sassoun region, situated south of the Moush 
Plain, forms a part of the long line of terraces in 
which the Armenian plateau descends gradually to the 
valleys through which flow the Tigris and the Euphra- 
tes, moistening the soil, watering the trees, and 
nourishing flowers of rare beauty and perfume. The 
entire region has been for centuries an earthly paradise, 

370 



THE TURKISH CAMPAIGN OF BUTCHERY. 371 

blessed with rich harvests, romantic scenery, and a 
healthy climate. Its inhabitants were mainly composed 
of Armenian peasants, who peaceably dwelt in the fair 
valleys of their ancient fatherland, while the Kurdish 
nomads infested the high plateaus above. Until a few 
years ago the Kurds were unorganized brigands ; but, 
as we have intimated in the preceding chapter, the 
Sultan has organized them into an irregular army, 
partly in order to exterminate the Armenians, and 
partly, in case of war with Russia, that they may act 
as a counter-weight to the Cossacks. Of late years the 
Armenians have practically become serfs of the local 
Kurdish aghas. In addition to the oppressive taxes 
imposed by the government, the Kurdish chiefs went 
from village to village and claimed their own share of 
the tribute. No sooner had one chief departed than 
another arrived with fire and sword. Some villages 
have been thus visited from eight to ten times in quick 
succession in the course of a year. 

To whom could our unhappy people appeal for pro- 
tection and redress, when they were not permitted to 
have even a penknife for self-defense against those who 
came upon them armed with the best modern weapons 
and supported by governmental protection ? Where 
could Armenians turn, when they were thus tied hand 
and foot and thrown like lambs into the midst of de- 
vouring wolves ? The insecurity of life and property 
became so great that many Armenians deserted their 
homes and property, and fled to the Russian frontiers 
in search of new abodes within the borders of the 
Czar's domain. 

Early in the spring of 1893 matters were hasten- 



372 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

ins - to a crisis. The Armenians of the Sassoun dis- 
trict, who were perhaps the most oppressed in the 
southeastern provinces, finally lost their patience ; and 
when the Kurds made their usual visit, with larger de- 
mands and bolder depredations, the Armenians of Dal- 
vorig banded together and offered a s^out and 
determined resistance. Preliminary skirmishes were 
followed by a general attack. The united Kurdish 
tribes of Pakrantzik, Khiyantzig, and Badnktzik made 
up an army of about seven thousand men, and at- 
tacked a mere handful of about one hundred and 
twenty Armenians of Dalvorig, who were gathered in 
defense of their rights. Incredible as it may seem, the 
superior position of the Armenians behind the rocks of 
Turfurkar, coupled with their indomitable courage, 
made them more than a match for their adversaries ; for 
only six Armenians fell, while over a hundred Kurds 
were slain. Such an unlooked-for result so disheart- 
ened the Kurds that they retreated, and perhaps 
would never again have lifted their hands to strike the 
brave Armenians of Dalvorio- had it not been for the 
Turkish government, which at this point hastened to 
the support and defense of the Kurds. The gov- 
ernor general of the province set out with his regular 
troops and field-pieces, and occupied the region about 
Dalvorior but made no attack at the time. In an in- 
terview with some of the leading Armenians he 
questioned them as to why they did not submit to 
the government and pay their taxes. To this the 
Armenians replied that they were not disloyal to the 
government, but that the}^ could not pay taxes both 
to the Kurds and to the government, and that if the 




MOSLEM ROBBERS DIVIDING SPOILS. 
{From a Painting?) 



374 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

government would afford them protection they would 
not decline to pay the taxes. 

The siege continued throughout the winter. Upon 
the advent of the spring of 1894 the Kurdish tribes 
were ordered to attack the entire Sassoun district, 
which included over forty villages. It is needless to 
say that they responded, coming, to the number of 
twenty thousand, from every direction. In a few pre- 
liminary skirmishes several Kurds fell. The Kurds 
secured the bodies of two of their slain countrymen, 
and, after mutilating the corpses, carried them to the 
headquarters of the provincial government at Bitlis 
and showed them to the vali. " See what the 
Christians are doing to us ! " they exclaimed, meanwhile 
reporting that the entire province was in armed revolu- 
tion. The local government of Moush telegraphed 
the Sultan of the alleged uprising of the Armenians. 
The Porte, only too glad of such a pretext, ordered 
the military commander of that province to "exter- 
minate the rebels." Soon re-enforcements arrived, and 
a general attack followed. 

The Armenians, ignorant of the presence of the 
regular troops, who were kept out of sight, and think- 
ing they had only the Kurds to contend with, fought 
gallantly, and held them back for nearly two weeks. 
During this time the characteristic perfidy and cunning 
of the Turkish soldiers sometimes deceived even the 
Armenians themselves. Once they came into a village, 
and, having assured the inhabitants that they had come 
to guard them against the Kurds, were quartered in 
Armenian homes. At night, when the people had retired, 
these alleged protectors arose and fell upon the house- 



THE TURKISH CAMPAIGN OF BUTCHERY. 375 

holds of their hosts, slaying every man, woman, and 
child. It was this event that made it no longer 
possible for the Armenians to doubt that the govern- 
ment and its forces were back of the Kurds, and that 
consequently their own doom was sealed. 

The Armenians fought with the energy of despair, 
and the Kurds, after repeated repulses, refused to do 
any more unless the soldiers aided them. Then began 
a. general massacre, of almost incredible ferocity, 
lasting from the middle of August to the middle of 
September, 1894. The Sultan's firman ordering the 
butchery of the Armenians was read to the soldiers by 
the commanding marshal, Zekki Pasha. The im- 
perial edict commanded them to exterminate the 
Christians. Before the reading was completed, as if 
unwilling to delay the diabolical deed, Zekki Pasha 
gave the order to "smite" the Christians. Then fol- 
lowed a scene too awful to describe. The brutal 
officer issued commands to the troops of such a nature 
that some of the better among them, recoiling from 
perpetrating outrages on unarmed and helpless men, 
women, and children, begged that they be not com- 
pelled to carry them out. 

On the last day of August, that being the anni- 
versary of the Sultan's accession to the throne, the 
duty of loyalty was again impressed upon the minds of 
the Turkish soldiers, and the indiscriminate slaughter 
of the Armenians they were taught to regard as a 
supreme privilege. There was no line drawn between 
" loyal " and so-called " disloyal " villages. " Down with 
the Christian dogs ! " was the watchword that rang out 
from Moslem throats and resounded with the boom of 



376 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

their cannon. The air was filled with one great wail of 
anguish; the earth was all aflame with burning villages. 
Nor was the ferocity of the Turk satisfied until all the 
villages of Sassoun were utterly obliterated and the 
last man, woman, and child had paid the penalty for 
the alleged uprising against the Turkish government. 

It is hard to select specific instances from such an 
inferno of cruelty, but let me mention the following 
cases, the truth of which is based upon uncontradicted 
reports of those on the ground : 

In one place about fifty women and girls were 
locked in a church, and then the commander set 
the soldiers "free" among them, and when ravishing 
ceased they were all killed. In another place children- 
were stood up in a row in single file, and then a test 
was made as to how many little bodies the leaden 
bullet of a Turkish rifle could tear through in its 
deadly flight. The soldiers would toss infants up into 
the air, and catch them upon their bayonets when they 
came down. Babes were laid in a row before the eyes 
of their mothers, and then, with a mighty stroke of 
a Turkish sword, their heads were severed from their 
bodies. Aorain, men, women, and children were 
crowded into houses and the houses set on fire, their 
attempts to escape the flames being defeated by 
bayonets. 

It would be a grewsome tale to relate the shocking 
cruelties perpetrated upon women. I have seen of 
late some Armenian refugees from near the Sassoun 
region, and their accounts of Turkish inhumanity 
sounded to me like the echoes from the barbaric past 
and filled every fiber of my being with infinite wrath. 



THE TURKISH CAMPAIGN OF BUTCHERY. 377 

As I go in thought from village to village, and look 
upon the ravines filled with corpses of Armenian 
heroines and martyrs ; as I hear the pitiful entreaties 
of helpless womanhood and childhood, trembling 
before uplifted daggers ; as I gaze upon the frantic 
faces of fathers and mothers as they behold their 
infants pierced by Turkish bayonets ; as I see 
widowed motherhood with frozen tears seeking shelter 
amid the ruins of desolation, my heart cries, " How 
long, O Lord, how long!" 

Some Turkish devices of hellish wickedness my 
regard for decency and for the conventionalities of 
civilized speech will not permit me to relate. Indeed, 
the English language is impotent for the task. 

In this massacre it is believed that ten thousand 
Armenians perished, though it is difficult to obtain 
even an approximately correct estimate of the slain. 
The Sultan, in spite of his denial of the entire affair, 
at once sent one of the imperial guards to carry a 
decoration to Zekki Pasha for his so-called bravery and 
his success in the work at Sassoun, while another envoy 
carried four banners to the four leading Kurdish chiefs 
who were associated with the military commander in 
the massacre and who were the instigators of it. 
Meanwhile the Turkish government made strenuous 
efforts to suppress all accounts from the scenes of 
murder and rapine. What could not be concealed was 
represented in a light very different from actual facts. 
The magnates near the scene of carnage prepared a 
document, which they endeavored to compel Chris- 
tians to sign, purporting to give the judgment of the 
people that the thousands killed in the Sassoun region 



378 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

met death as their just deserts, and expressing thanks 
to the Sultan and his officials for their acts. 



SUBSEQUENT EVENTS, AND THE MASSACRE AT 
CONSTANTINOPLE. 

Owing to the report of the massacre at Sassoun, 
which found its way to all parts of Europe, causing a 
thrill of horror and a storm of indignation, investiga- 
tions were made by Mr. Hallward, the British consul 
at Van, and by the British Ambassador at Constan- 
tinople. When to their confirmation of the reports 
was added the admission of the local military com- 
mander, Great Britain informed the Porte that better 
government was necessary in the eastern part of his 
dominion or steps would be taken to effect the im- 
provement independently. The Sultan's fear of 
external interference aroused him to at least a show 
of action. He appointed a commission to inquire into 
the massacre and propose a means for restoring quiet. 
That he intended this commission to accomplish 
nothing except the distortion of the facts was 
apparent from the men he chose to compose it. They 
had the confidence of none of the European Powers. 
The bestowal of a decoration upon the Turkish com- 
mander in charge at Sassoun served to increase the 
doubts of the Powers as to the Porte's sincerity of 
purpose in creating the commission. The Powers 
then began to talk of a separate representative com- 
mission of inquiry to act independently of the Turkish 
commission. Americans were invited to representa- 
tion in the latter commission, but President Cleveland 



THE TURKISH CAMPAIGN OF BUTCHERY. 379 

declined the invitation. He signified, however, the 
willingness of the United States to conduct an 
individual investigation and selected, after consulta- 
tion with England, Consul Jewett of Sivas. The 
Porte did not consent to this and refused to grant the 
necessary papers to the consul. 

In mid-winter, when the weather in that portion of 
Armenia where the tragedies occurred is exceedingly 
severe, the commission began its work, and was 
shortly established at Moush. The Turkish soldiers 
extorted money from the Armenians in the vicinity by 
threatening to report them to that body as insurgents, 
while the Turkish officers threatened the Armenians 
with death if they exposed the tragedies that had 
occurred in their midst. Nor did this exhaust the 
methods of Turkish ingenuity to cover up the facts. 
Many prominent Armenians, including clergymen, 
were thrust into prison without just cause or explana- 
tion, and were frequently kept in chains and tortures 
without trial ; and even when their innocence was 
established they were not acquitted. These Turkish 
prisons, particularly the one at Bitlis, where many 
Armenians were confined, may well be described as an 
earthly hell. Indeed, no human imagination can grasp 
the horrors to which Christians were subjected in 
these noisome dungeons. I have seen many Ar- 
menian refugees, and their descriptions of these 
places sent a chill of horror through my veins. The 
tearing of flesh, crushing of limbs, rending of sinews, 
brandings with red-hot iron, and all manner of lingering 
tortures surpassed in fiendishness the darkest ages of 
the Inquisition. The dreary walls of the Bitlis prison 



380 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

echoed day and night with wails of anguish from 
victims herded together in a common cell in the midst 
of filth and disease. Death would be a mercy com- 
pared with such maddening torments. 

Dr. E. J. Dillon, the special English commissioner 
of the Daily Telegraph, who spent some time on 
the ground and made himself master of the facts, fully 
corroborates the reports of the refugees in an article 
in the Contemporary Review for August, 1895. In 
that article, entitled " The Condition of Armenia," he 
thus describes the Turkish Prison : " If the old Eng- 
lish Star Chamber, the Spanish Inquisition, a 
Chinese opium den, the ward of a yellow fever 
hospital, and a nook in the lowest depths of Dante's 
hell be conceived as blended and merged into one, 
the resulting picture will somewhat resemble a bad 
Turkish prison." 

The commission at Moush, however, was making 
progress, and its report of the situation was such as to 
confirm the worst description, and the most heinous 
details were found to be abundantly verified. Vice 
Consul Shipley, the representative of Great Britain 
on the commission of inquiry, reported in a conserv- 
ative and moderate tone : 

We [Messrs. Vilbert, Shipley, and Prjevalsky, the representa- 
tives of France, England, and Russia] have, in our report, given 
it as our conviction, arrived at from the evidence brought before 
us, that the Armenians were massacred without distinction of age 
or sex; and, indeed, for a period of some three weeks, viz., from 
the 12th of August to the 4th of September (O. S.), it is not too 
much to say that the Armenians were absolutely hunted like wild 
beasts, being killed wherever they were met; and if the slaughter 
was not greater, it was, we believe, solely owing to the vastness of 



THE TURKISH CAMPAIGN OF BUTCHERY. 38 1 

the mountain ranges of that district, which enabled the people to 
scatter, and so facilitated their escape. In fact, and speaking 
with a full sense of responsibility, we are compelled to say that the 
conviction has forced itself upon us that it was not so much the 
capture of the agitator Mourad, or the suppression of a pseudo- 
revolt, which was desired by the Turkish authorities, as the 
extermination, pure and simple, of the Gheliguzan and Talori 
districts." * 

It was apparent to the Sultan that the moral sensi- 
bilities of the Christian Powers had been so outraged 
that the nations were on the verge of aggressive 
action. The English government emphatically an- 
nounced its intention to afford protection to all Chris- 
tians throughout the Ottoman Empire. The result of 
this was a few transitory reforms with which the 
Sultan hoped to appease the Christian governments. 
He caused the release of many imprisoned clergymen, 
and highly incompetent Turkish officials were relieved 
from office. Meanwhile Great Britain, France, and 
Russia in a joint note informed the Porte that certain 
reforms must be carried out, with the following pro- 
visions : 

A high commissioner, appointed with the assent of the Pow- 
ers, is to have general supervision over the whole empire, with 
the assistance of a commission sitting in Constantinople; the 
provinces of eastern Turkey are to have Mohammedan or Chris- 
tian governors, according to the preponderance of population, the 
vice governor to be of different faith from the governor; taxes 
are to be collected by local and municipal agents instead of by 
soldiers or treasury agents, and the provinces are to retain 
enough funds for their administration and send the balance to 
Constantinople; there is to be a general amnesty for crimes and 

*"Blue Book," Turkey, 1895, No. 1, Fart I., p. 206. 



382 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

offenses other than those against the common law; pending 
political trials are to stop and the prisoners are to be released; 
imprisonment without special warrant is forbidden and speedy- 
trial assured, together with release in case of acquittal; the 
number of Christian judges is to be increased in proportion to 
the Christian population; Christians are to scve equally with 
Moslems in the gendarmerie; conversion to Islam by force is for- 
bidden, and general freedom of religious confession is to be 
secured; the powers of magistrates are to be extended, and the 
local courts are to be under the supervision of a delegation from 
the Court of Appeals. 

These proposed reforms would render Armenia 
practically independent, and differ very little from the 
demands made by Russia in 1876 on behalf of Bul- 
garia, which led to the Russo-Turkish War. The 
Sultan knew that the difficulties which beset him were 
great, and he at once altered the ministry and 
appointed an intensely anti-English Grand Vizier. 
Meanwhile the president of the commission to investi- 
gate the Sassoun massacres was made the Minister of 
Foreign Affairs. Under such conditions there was a 
manifest unwillingness on the part of the Turkish 
government to comply with the reforms as suggested 
by the Powers. 

Of all the Powers, England was apparently the most 
firm in its demands for immediate adoption of the 
measures. The Sultan hesitated much. His Moham- 
medan subjects opposed every letter of the Euro- 
pean proposals. At this critical point the Liberal 
Party of England was overthrown and the Con- 
servative placed in power. The policy of the latter 
party toward Turkey had always been aggressive, and 
many hopes were built upon its being true to its tradi- 



•" 




Signer A. Pansa, Italy. Mons. Nelidoff, Russia. 

Mons. P. Cambon, Baron Calice, Prince Radolin, Sir Philip Currie, 

France. A ustro Hungary. Germany. Great Britain, 

THE AMBASSADORS OF THE GREAT POWERS AT CONSTANTINOPLE, 



384 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

tions. Even the Sultan became alarmed at the acces- 
sion of the new party and felt that he was at least in a 
position where he could no longer trifle with the 
demands of Europe. He straightway promised to 
effect the reforms, demanding, however, an extension 
of time. This apparent concession to foreign pressure 
greatly incensed the Turks, whose sense of national 
dignity was wounded, and they threatened the Sultan 
with a Moslem insurrection. Particularly the Young 
Turkey Party were very active in their expressions of 
hostility against the existing administration ; for they 
had come to the conviction that it was not the Chris- 
tians alone who suffered, but that their Moslem brethren 
also were victims of the Porte's inefficiency under the 
administrative policy of the Old Turkey Party. 

We must not omit an event which was of no little 
assistance at this time to the Armenian cause. On 
December 29, 1894, the occasion of the eighty-fifth 
birthday of the late Mr. William E. Gladstone, in 
response to our deputation the Sage of Hawarden 
raised his voice for justice in behalf of our oppressed 
people, and denounced in the strongest possible 
language the barbarity of the " unspeakable Turk," 
expressing the hope that the government of the Queen 
would do its duty in establishing peace and justice in 
Armenia. 

The Sultan's insincerity regarding reform was more 
and more impressed upon the Powers, for not only 
did he delay their practical application, but fresh out- 
rages were going on as usual and even to a more 
alarming extent. England made a naval demonstra- 
tion at the Dardanelles and threatened the dismember- 




THE LATE RT. HON. W. E. GLADSTONE, THE GREAT ENGLISH FRIEND OF 
THE ARMENIANS. 



(From a Painting.") 



386 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

ment of the Ottoman Empire ; and for a time it 
appeared as though the other Powers were in accord 
with Great Britain's policy of employing coercive 
measures in order to bring the Sultan to terms. 
It was soon discovered, however, that the Powers had 
agreed to disagree. Even England receded from her 
advanced position, and the whole scheme of reforms 
vanished in the air. The attitude of the Powers 
reassured the Sultan that as long as the governments 
of Europe are divided among themselves he is safe in 
his position, and he therefore proceeded to indulge in 
a massacre in Constantinople itself before the very 
eyes of the European ambassadors who a short time 
before had been considering the partition of Turkey. 

It is an ancient Turkish custom, in case of oppression 
or national needs, to petition the government for 
redress, and, therefore, on Monday, October i, 1895, 
about two hundred peaceable Armenians marched in a 
body to the Imperial Government offices to present a 
petition to the Sultan, asking relief from persecutions. 
It might appear a foolish thing for the Armenians to 
do, considering the excited state of feeling that pre- 
vailed all over the empire, and they were advised 
against their action by our Patriarch. Yet it is the 
constitutional right of the Armenians to present peti- 
tions, and in default of free speech or a free press it is 
the only mode of obtaining redress for grievances. To 
say that they went there to get themselves butchered 
in order to draw attention to their wrongs is against 
reason. But the Turkish authorities are well versed in 
the art of giving a peaceful constitutional proceeding 
like this the appearance of a riot. The government 



THE TURKISH CAMPAIGN OF BUTCHERY. 387 

ordered the police to disperse the Armenian petitioners. 
In some unknown way firing began, and after many of 
the petitioners had been killed, the homeward march 
was broken up. The butchery, however, did not stop 
here, but spread throughout the city as enraged bands 
of softas went from place to place, clubbing every 
Armenian who appeared on the street. The rioting 
continued over Tuesday, and during Tuesday night 
quiet, peaceful homes were attacked and some eighty 
innocent people were slaughtered in cold blood, making 
a total of about three hundred victims. 



MASSACRES AT TREBIZOND AND ERZRUM. 

The next scene of Armenian carnage was at Treb- 
izond, situated at the eastern end of the Black Sea, 
and occupying a position that formerly gave it much 
commercial and political importance. It is this city the 
declining Christians of western Europe made their 
stronghold in the thirteenth century, keeping part of 
the northern coast of the Euxine, while the interior 
was held by the Turks. 

Owing to its being a fortified stronghold within a 
short distance of both the Russian and Persian borders, 
all strangers at the time were regarded with more or 
less suspicion, particularly as the Turkish authorities 
were then thoroughly inflamed and were on the look- 
out for Russo-Armenian agitators, who, they sup- 
posed, were smuggling arms across the frontier. The 
population of the city is about fifty thousand, there be- 
ing nearly as many Armenians as Turks, with quite a 
representation of Greeks. Early in October, 1895, after 



388 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

the troubles at Constantinople, Bahri Pasha, former 
governor of Van, who had been called to Constantinople 
in disgrace, because of pressure brought against the 
Turkish government after the Sassoun massacre, was 
assaulted by an Armenian, who only succeeded in 
slightly wounding the man he tried to kill, though he 
fired six shots from a revolver. Unfortunately, he 
did mischief he never intended, One shot wounded a 
Turkish boy, who died the next day; another wounded 
the hand of the vali of Trebizond, who was in company 
with the disgraced officer, while still another struck an 
Armenian lad. The attack of the would-be assassin, 
who escaped, was purely a personal matter and should 
not have had any significance for Turks in general. 
The latter, however, were ready and anxious to believe 
that it was the initial step to an occurrence similar to 
that at Constantinople, and pretended that a concerted 
move was to be made against them by the Armenians, 
declaring themselves to be in fear of an attack. In the 
street at night there were menacing demonstrations by 
the Turks. Armed bands of lawless and unrestrained 
Moslems lounged about the corners, or with brandished 
swords and frowning looks patrolled the streets. 

The European consuls, alarmed at the situation, held 
a consultation and besought the governor to restrain 
the leaders who incensed the people. He declared he 
would do what he could to restore peace. The turbu- 
lence had seemed to subside, when on Monday, October 
7, the son of a leading Turk of the city died from in- 
juries received while in a drunken brawl, fighting with 
a comrade. The Turkish population was ready to be- 
lieve that he had been murdered by an Armenian whom 



THE TURKISH CAMPAIGN OF BUTCHERY. 



389 



he was trying to place in custody. The excitement 
became intense, and a massacre the same night was 




ft 

i". 

BY PER. OF THE CHRISTIAN HERALD, NEW YORK. 

AN ARMENIAN MASSACRE. 



only averted by a heavy fall of rain which dispersed the 
mobs. 

The following morning, as there was no indication 
of disquiet, after a brief suspension, the Armenians re- 
opened their shops and resumed their daily occupations. 
At about noon on October 8, when the streets of the 
city seemed as peaceful as possible, a cannon was fired 
somewhere in the eastern part of the city, as the signal 
of the authorities for the massacre to commence. In 
the twinkling of an eye the pent-up fury and em 



390 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

raged fanaticism of the Turks were let loose like a 
deluge of hell. In blind and unopposed fury the 
Moslems descended upon the unsuspecting and unarmed 
Armenians. 

When the bloody violence was somewhat abated the 
plundering began. Doors and windows of houses were 
broken in, the better to facilitate the rapacious hunt 
for articles of value. Such things as were not desired 
by the despoilers were ruined beyond repair. The 
actions of the Turks seemed to indicate that they 
were bent upon the utter annihilation of the Ar- 
menians. Far from restraining the fiery Turks, the 
soldiers and police took part in the massacre, and were 
found distributed among the murderous crowds. 

The next day the Turks spread reports to the effect 
that the Armenians from the adjoining village, thor- 
oughly organized, were advancing to attack the city. 
The truth of the matter was that the massacre was ex- 
tending to the village, though the Turks endeavored to 
make it appear that they were quelling an uprising. 
After the massacre those Armenians who escaped were 
thrown into prison for no cause, while perpetrators of 
the horrible outrages were let loose to continue their 
work to their hearts' content. The wave of murder and 
despoliation spread southward from Trebizond along a 
road that had been built to Erzrum in former years 
with a view to retaining the commercial importance 
of Trebizond, which was fading because of the diver- 
sion of trade to Batoum after the Treaty of Berlin and 
the occupation of Batoum by the Russians. The city 
of Sumushkhane, famous for its silver mines, whence its 
name, was the first place raided. As in most mining 




THE COSTUME OF A TURKISH HIGHWAYMAN. 



392 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

towns, the population was easily excited and quickly 
aroused. Christians were murdered in their places with 
as much heartlessness as at Trebizond, and the town in 
which they lived was practically destroyed. At Bai- 
burt, a prosperous city of about fifteen thousand inhab- 
itants, famous for their intense national feeling and 
vigor of character, the black cloud of rapine and de- 
struction next fell. Upon this most-hated community 
of Armenians, with a ferocity that beggars description, 
the Turks fell, flushed with the excitement of their mur- 
derous work which had begun at Trebizond five days 
earlier. Authorities differ as to the number of persons 
killed, but the most reliable estimate is placed at one 
thousand. The carnage was terrible ; and, when the 
Turks had finished their bloody work, Baiburt was 
but a forlorn and barely recognizable pile of ruined 
buildings. 

All eyes were now turned upon Erzrum, which 
throughout the rule of the Turks has been the most 
powerful and important commercial city of eastern 
Turkey. It is the point of divergence for the various 
routes from the eastern end of the Black Sea to Persia, 
Bagdad, and central Asia Minor. The various Euro- 
pean governments concerned in eastern Turkey main- 
tain consulates at this city. It has an altitude of six 
thousand feet above the sea, and is surrounded by high 
mountains. Its climate runs to extremes of heat and 
cold, while its close proximity to the Russian border 
made it a favored point of attack to the Russians in 
the different Russo-Turkish wars. Twice Erzrum has 
fallen into the Russians' hands, and as many times has 
been released by special treaty stipulations. The pop- 



THE TURKISH CAMPAIGN OF BUTCHERY. 393 

ulation of the city is fifty thousand, and is composed, 
to a great extent, of Turks, though the Armenians 
were strong numerically and still stronger financially. 
The arrival of some of the leaders in the Trebizond 
and Baiburt massacres, and their glowing accounts of 
Moslem outrages, aroused the Turks to a high pitch of 
excitement. The police apparently endeavored to 
maintain peace, and as the time for an attack had sev- 
eral times been set, without anything taking place, the 
Armenians concluded that the talk of the Turks was 
meaningless. 

The Armenians were therefore in their accustomed 
places on Wednesday, October 30, totally unconscious 
of the storm that was about to break. About noon the 
crack of musketry was heard in the direction of the 
market-place. Turks, armed to the teeth, appeared 
rushing towards the market, firing at random into the 
houses of Armenians along the way. In some instances 
the fire was returned. Some of the more wealthy Ar- 
menian merchants had stored most valuable goods in 
the mission building for safety. The resident Ameri- 
can missionary, Mr. Chambers, had just dispatched a 
telegram to the Americans at Bitlis to inform them that 
all was well at Erzrum and to inquire of their condi- 
tion. As he was returning to the mission building he 
noticed a spirit of unrest along the one straggling mar- 
ket. An Armenian came rushing by, shouting to his 
brethren to prepare for the onslaught of the Turks. 
Shops were being hurriedly closed and locked, while 
some merchants endeavored to hide their wares. 
Shortly the firing began. Mr. Chambers made haste 
to regain the mission building, where safety was as- 



394 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

sured. Bullets began to fly thick and fast, and the din 
in the vicinity of the bazaar was terrifying. To add to 
the general confusion a large fire had started in the 
extreme western part of the city, and continued for 
nearly twenty-five hours. The attack was made in dif- 
ferent sections of the city simultaneously, and woe be- 
tide the Armenian who exposed the least part of his 
body to the merciless fire of the Turks ! Murder and 
plundering followed. The soldiers were most aggres- 
sive. In order that they might carry away more plun- 
der, Turkish women accompanied them, and lugged off 
bundles of cloth, furniture, and jewelry. Great pains 
were taken to destroy or render useless the food that 
might keep off starvation. The Turks continued their 
work through the following day, and then quiet reigned 
once more. After waiting several hours some of the 
more fearless, who had escaped the Turks by hiding, 
stole forth to seek their homes, which were, in most 
cases, found to be ravished and uninhabitable. 

The next day, Friday, was the Moslem's Sunday, and 
although Thursday night there had been no violence 
the fears of the Armenians were again revived. To 
add to their apprehension, the Turks and soldiers had 
openly boasted that they would renew their ravages on 
this day. Over five hundred terrified people crowded 
into the mission building and its surrounding grounds, 
and they could in no way be induced to go home. As 
night drew on and hostilities had not been renewed, 
many gained courage and left for their homes, thereby 
reducing the number to about two hundred. Nothing 
occurred during the night, and Saturday morning the 
work of burying the dead began. It was a sickening 



THE TURKISH CAMPAIGN OF BUTCHERY. 395 

sight that met the people engaged in this work. Of 
one thousand killed all were Armenian men, with the 
exception of three Armenian women and a number of 
children, besides thirty young men scarcely out of their 
teens. At the Armenian Gregorian Cemetery a trench 
150 feet long and twenty feet wide was dug, and in it 
were laid hundreds of bodies of dead Armenians. 
Nowhere could a dead Turk be found. Many of the 
bodies were burned, others were mutilated beyond 
recognition. A body was found with the head attached 
but arms and legs missing. The corpses were nearly 
naked, and in some cases quite so, for the Turks had 
stolen everything worth stealing. 

After the massacre had subsided the Enolish and 
Italian consuls, accompanied by Tewfix Bey of Shakir 
Pasha's suite, and Mr. Chambers, inspected the Arme- 
nian quarters, or rather what was left of them. At one 
place they found the naked bodies of two young 
women who had been brutally murdered. A man with 
sixteen wounds was attended by Mr. Chambers, and 
another whose wounds he helped to dress had three 
awful wounds about the head, two sword incisions in 
his back, and a bullet through the left hand. Injustice 
to some of the Turks, it must be said that there were 
a number of cases where Turks attempted to save their 
Armenian friends, and several instances of heroic 
rescues are recorded. 

Instances were not only shown at Erzrum, but dur- 
ing the massacre in my native city, Marsovan, there 
were found a number of Turks who, at the risk of their 
own lives, protected their Armenian neighbors and 
friends. My own grandfather, while returning from 



396 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

the country on that fatal day of the massacre in Mar- 
sovan, was seized by the Turkish mob, who were like 
tigers, roaring- for blood. They tied him hand and 
foot, and were about to strike the fatal blow, when a 
Turk to whom my grandfather had done many deeds 
of kindness rushed to his rescue, and after a heroic 
struo-<rle managed to save his aq;ed Armenian friend 
and conducted him safely home. 

As intelligence of the massacre at Erzrum was 
spread abroad there was a profound sensation. It 
seemed impossible that such a thing could occur in a 
city containing Russian, English, and French consuls 
and important Turkish officials, but such skepticism 
will vanish in the light of later events. In August, 
1896, in Constantinople itself, before the very eyes of 
all the European ambassadors and consuls, over four 
thousand Armenians were massacred within a few days. 
The Turks endeavored by every subterfuge to make 
their horrible work seem justifiable. They spread 
ludicrous reports of an Armenian revolution that they 
had quelled, and told of vast stores of arms and amuni- 
tion that the revolutionists had in hiding. When these 
alleged places of hiding were found and searched 
there was nothing to substantiate the outrageous 
charges of the Moslems. 

The city of Harput is 200 miles southwest of Erzrum, 
and about 20 miles east of the Euphrates. Its chief 
importance lies in its position, for it is the center of a 
large number of villages covering an extended plain 
and constituting the only section of Armenia where the 
Armenians can fairly claim to constitute a majority of 
the population. Although the city itself has only 1500 



THE TURKISH CAMPAIGN OF BUTCHERY. 397 

Armenians against 3500 of Turkish population, yet the 
surrounding plain is almost entirely Armenian. The 
massacre at this place, which made the entire province 
the center of the greatest suffering with over 100,000 
destitute and perishing people, was, like most other 
Turkish butcheries, premeditated and prearranged. 
" Eat and drink while you may, for within eight months 
you will be killed," was the warning of a Turk to an 
Armenian family which had just arrived in this country 
from the scene of blood and fire. 

If the massacres are provoked by revolutionary 
agitators, as the Turkish government persistently 
claims, no massacre should have ever occurred in 
Harput; for throughout the district the people are 
quiet, peaceful, and submissive folk, while self-restraint 
and intelligence are prominent among their character- 
istics. The missionaries of the American Board, who 
have made the city the center of a large mission and 
educational work, had always been on friendly terms 
with the government officials, and felt assured that 
they were removed from any possible danger or 
disturbance. 

The Kurds, however, gathered together in great 
numbers and descended upon the peaceful plain ; and 
the villages were destroyed and their inhabitants 
scattered or killed. The marauders did not at once 
attack the city, although, when the villages had been 
plundered, they turned to it with avaricious eyes. 
They were emboldened by the co-operation of the 
Turkish rabble of the city and villages. The situation 
became quite alarming, so that the Armenians were 
doubtful of their safety in spite of the repeated assur- 



398 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

ances of the Turkish officials that no Kurd would be 
allowed to enter the city. 

Soon from the city the plain presented a sad view of 
desolation and ruin. By day bands of Kurds rode 
fiercely from village to village, brandishing their 
weapons and in many instances shooting down 
Armenians in cold blood. At night the sky was 
illuminated by burning villages, and the glow of red 
that hung upon the horizon seemed a portent of the 
redder blood that was to flow in the streets of Harput. 
It was not safe for any Armenian to leave the city, 
which was virtually in a state of siege. The cordon 
of fiendish savages was drawing nearer the city. 

On Sunday, November 10, the worst element among 
the Turks in the city began a noisy demonstration, and 
it was plain that the crisis was not far off. The next 
day a village on the plain, only a short distance from 
the city, was attacked. After two hundred had been 
murdered, and as many wounded, the savages advanced 
to a position near an old fortress in the eastern part 
of the city. Turks from the city met them, and the 
impression was given that a council was being held. 
Apparently the invaders were forbidden to attack the 
markets, from which it was known that all the mer- 
chandise had been removed. The deception was 
carried still further by a sham battle, which made it 
appear that the soldiers had resisted the invasion of 
the city. The firing had not continued long before a 
signal cannon was fired, and instantly the raiders began 
their work of murder and pillage all over the city. 
Amid flame and smoke, shout and groan, and saber 
strokes and death-shots falling thick and fast as lightnings 



THE TURKISH CAMPAIGN OF BUTCHERY. 399 

from the mountain cloud, the refugees sought safety 
at the school and mission-buildings and churches. The 
soldiers protected the Kurds, and the Turkish military 
forces did not make the slightest move to repel them, 
but stood by and saw American property destroyed 
and plundered and American citizens fired upon with- 
out lifting a finger to prevent. It was not incendiarism 
but official destruction. Nearly one hundred houses in 
the vicinity of the educational and missionary build- 
ings were burned, and then those buildings began to 
burn. It was evident that the plan of the marauders 
was to destroy these, so that the Americans and 
refugees would have no shelter. The missionaries, 
with their several hundred people, were driven from one 
place to another by the fire and the whistling of bullets. 
The savage horde shot down and tortured to death 
those who would not abjure their Christian faith. 
Quite a number of Armenians fled to a church in the 
vain hope that its sacred walls would furnish a shelter 
against those who were raving for Christian blood ; 
but the doors were soon battered in with heavy axes, 
and as their Moslem captors appeared, with raised 
daggers, the shrieks and cries of the helpless women 
and children rose louder and louder. Their captors 
dragged them out of the church one at a time, and, 
upon their firm refusal to accept Mohammed, they 
were killed with horrible tortures. The Protestant 
pastor of the church was the first victim, and as he was 
dragged out he exhorted the others to die like himself 
— a Christian martyr. 

In the cities of Arabkir and Malitia the Armenians 
offered resistance to the ravishers, but only succeeded in 



400 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

stirring the Turks to greater deeds of violence. They 
suffered terribly, while the Turks lost only a few of 
their numbers. At Malitia five thousand Christians 
were murdered, and at Arabkir two thousand, while it 
is estimated that not more than four hundred Turks 
were killed. A reliable estimate of the number of 
Christians killed in this region in one month alone, 
commencing with the latter part of October, 1895, is 
12,710. The houses destroyed numbered 5064. The 
total number killed in the vilayet of Harput is estimated 
at 40,000, including those who perished from hunger 
and cold; wounded, 8000; houses burned, 28,789; 
forcibly converted to Islam, 51,180; raped, 5530; 
married by force to Turks, 1530. 

It is needless to enter here into a detailed account 
of all the massacres. The wave of carnage that 
swept over the empire, from Trebizond, southward 
into the valley of the Euphrates, westward to Mar- 
sovan and Csesaria, and out to the Mediterranean Sea, 
and even Constantinople itself, carried in its over- 
whelming tides death and destruction. Sword, fire, 
famine, and pestilence have accomplished the infernal 
design of the oppressors. Thousands of Armenian 
women were violently carried off to the harems of 
their persecutors, while many men of the productive 
classes are doomed to languish in Turkish dungeons, 
arrested on unexplained charges and given no oppor- 
tunity to vindicate themselves. Their property was 
stolen or destroyed, and in many instances their lands 
and title deeds were forcibly seized by the officers of 
the government. In the face of the misery which 



THE TURKISH CAMPAIGN OF BUTCHERY. 



401 



befell unfortunate Armenia, one can easily imag- 
ine the harrowing prospect of the winter season in 
that cold region, when many' thousands of innocent 




ARMENIAN CHILDREN. 



orphans and widows, stripped- of everything which 
makes life comfortable, were turned over to exposure 
and famine. Nowhere have childhood and motherhood 
seen darker days than in Armenia. 

As to the nature of the massacres, it is obvious that 



402 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAlG. 

they primarily started on political issues, but soon the 
religious element overpowered the political. Indeed, 
it became the leading issue among Moslems whether 
Christians should longer be tolerated in a land where 
the Caliph of Mohammed has the sway of the govern- 
ment. It was on this very principle that the Sultan 
ordered a general massacre soon after he had promised 
the Powers to accept the proposed reforms giving 
Christians within the six vilayets rights that depended 
on their number. The massacres have been chiefly 
confined to these vilayets, the object being so to 
reduce the number of Christians as to give them no 
possible claim to any influence. The work of exter- 
mination — pillage, rapine, and murder — proceeded 
systematically. 

The Turkish Question as it now stands is distinctly 
religious, and stands above humanitarian and political 
considerations. " Mohammed or the sword " has been 
the cry in all the scenes of the massacres, yet the 
Armenians have asserted the same firmness in their 
adherence to Christianity as they had through the 
vicissitudes of long centuries. The Rev. Dr. Cyrus 
Hamlin, who above all living Americans has made 
himself master of the facts, by long years of toil and 
achievement in the Ottoman Empire, corroborates my 
assertion at this point when he says : 

But there is one noble trait that has come out in this terrible 
persecution which has astonished the world and has enraged the 
bloody persecutors. 

It is the firm refusal of men and women — of young men as well 
as of old — to save life by professing Islam. The confession is 
very brief. Only say : " There is but one God and Mohammed is 



THE TURKISH CAMPAIGN OF BUTCHERY. 4O3 

his Prophet," and wear the Moslem turban, and your life is 
spared. 

The eighty to one hundred thousand who have perished might 
have saved their lives by this confession, and by then adopting 
the Moslem dress and worship and trampling upon the Cross. 
They have died the death of martyrs. Many have saved their 
lives by this confession, it is true, but most of these acknowledge 
their present extreme wretchedness, and some have been killed 
for showing this keen regret. 

There is now an immense number of sufferers scattered through 
all the regions where massacres have occurred, who have lost 
fathers, brothers, property, dwellings, and who are simply fight- 
ing for life. Many thousands of them will perish of cold and 
famine next winter. Their number is estimated at from three to 
four hundred thousand. They suffer for clothing, for food, and 
for shelter. As all their tools have been destroyed or stolen, 
their miserable " dug-outs" resemble the lairs of wild beasts. 

And yet all this they endure rather than deny the faith. They 
suffer "scourgings and cruel mockings, yea, moreover, of bonds 
and imprisonments — they wander about in sheepskins and goat- 
skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented." — Heb. xi. 36, etc. 

All these can escape their misery by professing Islam. They, 
as well as the thousands slain, are martyrs of Jesus. They may 
be much less enlightened in Christian doctrine than we, but they 
have a faith that enables them to "resist unto blood." They 
suffer the most cruel torture and death rather than say 
Mohammed is Lord and not Jesus of Nazareth.* 

The failure of Christendom to protect its co-re- 
ligionists has proved a great moral disaster, for not 
only have the Christian victims lost faith in the 
sincerity of the great nations who profess Christ, but 
the Moslem world has taken it as an acknowledgment 
that Christianity is inferior to Mohammedanism. 

*From an article entitled " The Lesson of Armenia," in the Presbyterian, for 
November 4, 1896. 



404 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

Christians do not believe in the propagation of their 
faith by force of arms as do Moslems. But Christians 
have the right to insist that the powers of their 
government should be used for the protection of those 
who hold the Christian faith. 

But the Armenian appeals to Christendom for pro- 
tection and freedom are not simply based on their 
religious affiliation and unity of creed ; for the 
Mohammedan Turks have just as much right to rule 
over the Christian population in Armenia as the Chris- 
tian English have to rule over the Mohammedan 
population in India. But when our people are singled 
out on account of their religion and robbed and 
tortured and killed, there we find a legitimate ground 
on which to call for interference on the ground of 
common humanity. 

Cold indeed must be the heart that is not touched 
by the story of the atrocious deeds of the Turk. The 
tales of the dead are sad, those of the living more sad. 
Thousands of them have been deported, and those who 
remain are terrorized into silence. But the history of 
those awful days, when the tides of massacre, lust, and 
rapine raged throughout the cities and plains of our 
unhappy land, has been inefTaceably written, and the 
blood of her hundred thousand martyrs still cries 
aloud from earth to heaven. 

The thought of home and native land fills my heart 
with mingled feelings of gloom and rage. Many a 
youthful friend and schoolmate with whom I had spent 
the happiest days of my life in walks and talks and sports 
under the arching trees of my father's vineyard — many 
a bright boy of marked future, possibilities with whom 



THE TURKISH CAMPAIGN OF BUTCHERY. 405 

I had dreamed by the babbling- brooks the dream of 
youth — lies to-day in an unknown grave. 

WHAT IS TO BE DONE ? 

There seems to me only one possible course of 
action for my people to take, especially for the young, 
and that is to seek in other lands and among liberty- 
loving people new homes and new hopes of enterprise ; 
to seek some land where they can work and receive 
the benefits of their toil, where they can worship Him 
who has granted them freedom of conscience ; a place 
where they can own themselves, where honest thought 
and labor make vantage around from which their 
posterity may climb to nobler heights. This newest 
Land of the Free, which, from the early advent of its 
Pilgrim Fathers, has been an asylum for the oppressed 
and persecuted from every clime — why may it not 
open its hospitable doors and extend its welcome to 
the oldest remnant of early Christianity to share the 
heritage of freedom within its borders ? Utterly hope- 
less and helpless in the midst of everlasting oppres- 
sion, the young Armenian looks to America as his 
ideal Utopia. No doubt there are many, particularly 
those advanced in years, who would cling to their 
fatherland, no matter how dark the adversity. Yet 
there are many, particularly the younger element of 
the Armenians, who, though with much regret, are 
being led to desert their homes and firesides. 

Quite a number of Armenians have already come 
hither, and still larger numbers of them will come if 
they are encouraged with employment and practical 



406 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

sympathy. Of course it is not an easy matter for the 
Armenians to get out of the country that has cursed 
them. The refugees are restrained by the vigilant 
Turkish authorities, who, like Pharaoh's hosts in deal- 
ing with Israel, would rather slay them than to permit 
them to go. 

Only recently two of my younger brothers came to 
this country. The first to arrive here was shot at 
while in the old country, and doubtless would have 
been killed had he not been careful and speedy in 
his flight. He was actually smuggled over to this 
country. He was living at the time in Samsun, one of 
the ports of the Black Sea. After much planning and 
trial he managed to evade the vigilance of the Turkish 
officers, and boarded one of the European steamers, 
where the captain kept him over a week in the hold 
of the ship, until the steamer finally left Turkish 
waters. This instance serves to show why more 
Armenians do not leave Turkey. My brother's case 
was a very easy one. He did not have to contend 
with difficulties to secure a passport, an almost insur- 
mountable difficulty to the average refugee. Cannot 
the United States government effect an understanding 
with Turkey by which Armenian emigrants to Ameri- 
can shores may have a safe-conduct through the 
Sultan's domain ? 

There are now upward of ten thousand Armenians 
in this country — all good citizens and peaceable, sober, 
and orderly members of society. There are among 
them even professors and teachers in American schools 
and colleges, as well as ministers of the gospel. I 
have watched the career of many an Armenian refugee 



THE TURKISH CAMPAIGN OF BUTCHERY. 407 

within the past two or three years, and I can truth- 
fully say that their industry and behavior have been 
for the most part a credit to the race. Once in a 
land of freedom, they have, in grateful acknowledg- 
ment, made it their duty to advance the interests 
of the country to the best of their knowledge. Being 
of a kindred race and religion, they readily conform 
to the institutions and ideas of their new habitation. 
To say that the Armenians are a law-abiding people 
is a trite assertion. Scarcely ever have the criminal 
courts had any dealings with our people. 

Several years before the massacre I began in my 
public lectures to firmly advocate Armenian emigra. 
tion and colonization in the United States. I knew 
the sufferings and outrages to which my people were 
subjected in the Old World, and I could predict for 
them a better existence in the New. I was led to this 
conviction not only by my high esteem and love for 
the American people, but by the happy and, for the 
most part, contented disposition of my countrymen 
who were scattered around me. Particularly when 
the recent massacre in Turkey came on I felt most 
keenly for the flower of Armenian manhood and 
womanhood who perished there, and who might have 
been saved here for higher usefulness. 

In the preceding pages I have endeavored to 
present the history and portray as accurately as 
possible the conditions of my beloved race. 

As I pen these last few words my mind instinctively 
turns to my countrymen, zealous in the faith, constant 
to the right — the type of a fearless, honorable race. 



408 THE TURK AND THE LAND OF HAIG. 

Providence has so ordained that the people of the 
earth should be divided into nations, the governments 
and laws of which are as diverse as the ideas peculiar 
to their originators. We may be united in civilization 
and common sympathies, but the patriot is ever proud 
of and partial to the land which has given him birth. 

Christianity is broader than any constitution, more 
effective than the most wise laws of men. Its king- 
dom is confined to no territory and has no limitations 
to its power. We are all patriots of that kingdom, 
and it is not only loyalty to my country but loyalty 
to the broader, more glorious kingdom, that prompts 
me to turn my purposes and energy to her welfare. 

The light of morning already tints the eastern sky, 
but the mists still rising from man's ignorance and 
superstition obscure the rays and hide the sun. When, 
rising over hill and valley with its glorious splen- 
dor, God's own light shines in the zenith of the 
heavens, the obscuring mists all cleared away, then, 
and not till then, will the soul of man be fully 
illumined and his destiny made clear. 



THE END. 




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